Construction Begins on Transformative Expansion of the Bruce Museum – PRNewswire

Following the recent success of its ongoing, community-wide fundraising effort, leaders of the Campaign for the New Bruce have announced that construction will begin in October on the centerpiece of the Bruce Museum's transformative renovation and expansion project:a three-story, 43,000-square-foot addition that will more than double the size of the Museum, adding state-of-the-art exhibition galleries for art and science and new education and community spaces, including a restaurant and auditorium.

"This is an incredibly exciting moment for Greenwich and its hometown Museum, and for the entire Fairfield-Westchester region," says Robert Wolterstorff, The Susan E. Lynch Executive Director. "I know I speak for our family of staff, members, volunteers, and Trustees in expressing our profound gratitude to the community for their support."

The new addition will feature the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Education Wing, as well as the William L. Richter Art Wing, including vastly expanded accommodations for changing art exhibitions and, for the first time, significant space to show the Museum's permanent art collection in four new galleries. The entire ground floor of the new addition will be free and open to the public during Museum operating hours and available for special-event use by local community groups, families, and businesses. In another first for the Museum, a welcoming restaurant will offer both indoor and outside dining. The popular Museum Store will greatly increase in size. An auditorium, equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems, will host audiences of 250 more than double the capacity of the Museum's current lecture gallery. The project also includes updated storage areas for its growing collection of 25,000 works of art, natural history specimens, and scientific objects and artifacts, and a new study room to welcome visiting researchers to explore the collections.

Designed by the award-winning New Orleans firm of EskewDumezRipple, the new building addition will open directly onto Bruce Park and feature a delicate striated faade of cast stone and glass inspired by the surfaces of Connecticut's quarries and the rock outcrops of Bruce Park. Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects is creating a natural environment around the New Bruce that includes a sculpture trail and places to stroll and play. Turner Construction Co. is the lead contractor for the renovation and construction project.

The Grand Opening of the New Bruce is anticipated for the fall of 2022. To learn more about the Campaign for the New Bruce and to participate, please visit NewBruce.org.

SOURCE Bruce Museum

https://www.newbruce.org

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Construction Begins on Transformative Expansion of the Bruce Museum - PRNewswire