Art museum forges ahead on $3M addition

The wrecking ball can’t come fast enough for Director Jerry Berger, who has shepherded the project through lengthy fundraising, design and bidding phases.

Construction on the museum, 1111 E. Brookside Drive, is now just weeks away.

Springfield City Council approved a low bid from Rich Kramer Construction on Aug. 27, and the contract is clearing one last set of hurdles in the city’s legal department, Berger said.

Construction will be limited to the south and west sides of the 47-year-old museum, which will remain open during the expansion. Crews will begin by demolishing part of the museum’s south wall to connect the 10,000-square-foot addition, the cost of which surprised everyone at a staggering $300 per square foot.

“We got caught in this whirlwind of escalating prices,” Berger said, mentioning the regional crime lab and other public projects that shattered initial cost estimates. “It caused me unnecessary heartburn and migraine headaches.”

The addition – designed by St. Louis-based Paul Marti Associates Architects and Springfield-based Marshall-Waters-Woody Associates Inc. – comprises three new galleries and a library. All four areas will be named after late benefactors who bequeathed donations for the project. Southwest Missouri Museum Associates also contributed $200,000. The new wing, however, still hasn’t been named, and the museum is seeking additional donors.

The new gallery and storage space will be climate-controlled – a feature that has become a modern necessity for museums wishing to borrow valuable art collections, Berger said. The museum also hopes to lengthen the life expectancy of its collection, which comprises more than 9,000 pieces valued at more than $5 million.

Berger said construction work will cause some inconvenience for patrons, but he decided against shutting down the museum for several months. Loss of parking and closure of the museum’s main entrance will be the biggest challenges, he said.

“It’s going to be an imposition,” he said. “I know it’s going to take a toll on our attendance.”

Attendance in 2006 was about 50,000, and Berger said fall is typically a busy time for the museum. The popular Watercolor U.S.A. 2007 exhibit runs through November, and busloads of schoolchildren are scheduled to tour the facility later this year.

When the project wraps up next summer, museum patrons will enter through a new main entrance adorned with Japanese-fabricated glass block. “I think we’re going to have a much-enhanced introduction to the museum, one that will give everyone a feeling of coming to a special place,” lead architect Paul Marti said.[[In-content Ad]]