Museum of Natural History Moving Forward With $325M Expansion

NEW YORK CITY—The American Museum of Natural History will hold an informational meeting on Thursday on the conceptual design of its new Richard Gilder Center for Science Education and Innovation. The 218,000-square-foot addition to the museum is projected to cost $325 million to complete.

The museum is holding the informational session on Thursday at the museum from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm. The meeting will feature a presentation by architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects on the recently announced conceptual design that was endorsed by the museum's board of trustees last week. If all approvals are secured for the addition to be developed on the Columbus Avenue side of the museum complex, construction on the Gilder Center would begin after the design is completed in 2017. The museum has a goal of opening the new facility in 2020 at the conclusion of its 150th anniversary in 2019.

Approximately 80% of the 218,000-square-foot project will be located within the area currently occupied by the museum, creating key connections throughout the complex, museum officials state. Three existing buildings within the museum complex will be removed to minimize the impact on land that is now open space in the adjoining Theodore Roosevelt Park.

"The Gilder Center embraces the museum's integrated mission and growing role in scientific research and education and its enhanced capacity to make its extensive resources even more fully accessible to the public," states museum president Ellen V. Futter. "It will connect scientific facilities and collections to innovative exhibition and learning spaces featuring the latest digital and technological tools."

The Gilder Center is named for museum trustee Richard Gilder, who has donated more than $125 million to the museum, including $50 million for the new center. More than half of the $325-million project cost has already been raised.