Art museum celebrates finished expansion

The Springfield Art Museum on Friday will celebrate the completion of a $3.3 million expansion that has added nearly 10,000 square feet to the building.

Museum board and city officials will be on hand for a public reception and ribbon-cutting 5-7 p.m. Friday at the museum, 1111 Brookside Drive. The reception is hosted by Friends of the Springfield Art Museum, Southwest Missouri Museum Associates and the Springfield Art Museum.

The project included a 9,896-square-foot west wing addition to the 35,000-square-foot museum, a parking lot expansion and a new entrance on Brookside Drive. It was financed by private donations made to the museum during the last 15 years, according to a news release.

At the celebration, the public will be able to view new galleries, including: the William Maurice Eldredge Gallery; the Gertrude Vanderveer Spratlen Gallery; the Bill H. Armstrong Gallery; and the Joan Cousins Hartman Gallery. The Mary Louise Rosenbauer Library, the Museum Shop, the Southwest Missouri Museum Associates office and the new entrance hall also will be open.

The project's general contractor was Rich Kramer Construction; St. Louis firm Paul Marti Associates Architects and Springfield-based Marshall-Waters-Woody Associates Inc. were the architectural team. The engineers were: Anderson Engineering Inc., civil; St. Louis-based Larson Engineering, structural; and St. Louis-based McClure Engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing.[[In-content Ad]]