FAQ: The Chrysler Museum s Expansion and Renovation What exactly does the expansion/renovation project include? The Chrysler s 210,000-square-foot home on the Hague Inlet of the Elizabeth River is regularly cited as one of our region s most beautiful buildings. The Museum is home to 62 galleries, a 375-seat theatre, 112,000-volume library, education spaces, Museum Shop, and a small café, as well as support spaces and offices. While the building accommodates many essential functions well, gallery space is at a premium. We lack room to display important works in our current collection and are unable to credibly request gifts from regional collectors. In addition, catering facilities (an important source of earned income) and backof-house support spaces are inadequate and poorly located. The Museum s HVAC plant, crucial to the preservation of our collections and the comfort of our visitors, is energy inefficient and is nearing the end of its useful life. We currently offer poor access for people with disabilities and those with wheelchairs; they must now enter through a side door. The expansion and renovation of the Museum will: o Create approximately 8,000 square feet of new gallery space 5,500 square feet of new space for painting and sculpture 2,500 square feet of new space for glass, an increase of 30 percent o Relocate and expand catering facilities o Create a new café opening onto our north garden o Completely reinterpret and reinstall our Glass and Ancient Worlds Collections o Dramatically improve visitor and back-of-house circulation o Upgrade our antiquated HVAC systems, and make the Chrysler more energy-efficient o Improve access to the Museum for visitors with disabilities H&A Architects are the project architects. George Sexton and Associates are the installation and lighting designers. What will the expansion project cost? Our project budget is $24 million. We will not have a final cost until all components of the project are formally bid and contracts awarded. How will we pay for it? The building project is a major component of the Chrysler s larger $45 million Capital Campaign. This three-part effort has already made possible the creation of the Museum s Glass Studio, the doubling of the size of our curatorial department, and the endowment of free admission.
For the expansion and renovation component of the Campaign, we currently have firm commitments from donors for all but $2.5 million of the $24 million building budget. The Museum is confident that it will raise the remaining funds in the near future. How will the project be scheduled? 2012 March Chrysler Trustees vote to proceed with bidding the project. June Construction contract awarded (pending receipt of satisfactory bid). July Construction begins on additions at front of building. Visitor entry relocated to theatre entrance. August Glass, Worcester porcelain, and some European galleries close for renovation work; other galleries and special exhibitions remain open. November Impressionist galleries close for renovation; galleries adjacent to Huber Court, McKinnon Galleries of Modern and Contemporary Art and special exhibitions remain open. Museum programs and special events continue as scheduled through the end of the year. 2013 2014 January Museum building closes to public. Focus of Chrysler activities moves to Glass Studio, Moses Myers and Willoughby-Baylor Houses, and off-site locations. November Substantial completion of construction project; reinstallation of collections begins. January to March Behind-the-scenes previews of transformed museum. April Grand Reopening Please note that this timetable is preliminary and will almost certainly change as the project evolves. Why do we have to close? Couldn t we complete the project while open? The planned update of the Museum s HVAC system will mean that for significant periods of time the Museum will be without climate control. Because fragile works of art require stable temperature and humidity, they cannot safely remain in spaces without climate control. Concerned about the impact of closing our doors to visitors for an extended period, the Museum studied closely the possibility of staging HVAC and other essential work to allow at least a portion of the Chrysler to remain open during construction. This option posed more problems than it would have solved. It would have required moving much of our collection multiple times, putting fragile objects at risk. Staging would have
raised project costs by an estimated 30 percent, and would have extended the total construction time by months. The enjoyment of our visitors in a building under construction would have been seriously compromised. Ultimately, we felt that it was advisable to close so that the project could move ahead on the fastest possible timetable. How will we keep the Museum visible during construction? Our mission commits us to providing the people of our community with experiences that enrich and transform lives. While our main building is unavailable to visitors, we will ensure that the Chrysler s collections, programs, and staff expertise will be remain widely available to the public. To achieve this we will open a series of satellite locations across Hampton Roads. You will be able to find the Chrysler s collections in a new storefront gallery at MacArthur Center. The Norfolk History Museum will be reinstalled as a temporary home for the Museum s remarkable American art holdings, and there will be a series of special changing exhibitions at such partner institutions as Old Dominion s Baron and Ellin Gordon Gallery and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. Expanded programming is also planned for the Moses Myers House and the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, including evenings with music and refreshments. At the same time, Museum educators and curators will fan out across region to offer lectures, classes, workshops, and special educational programs. During this period of transition the Museum will also increase its program of regional partnerships working with other performing arts and civic groups on new initiatives, public events, and art commissions. Construction offers us endless opportunities to create new and exciting arts experiences. All of us are looking forward to taking our collections and programs out into the community in fresh and exciting ways. What impact do we expect the project to have on operating revenue? In normal times the Museum depends on earned income from facility rentals, Museum Shop sales, and catering to support ongoing exhibitions and programs. This revenue stream will largely disappear during 2013. Our projected expenses have been adjusted to take this into account, and the Museum will continue to operate on a balanced budget. It is also typical for membership revenue to decline during museum construction projects. We anticipate that we will also experience some loss of members. To ensure that this loss is as small as possible, we are putting in place a range of new and expanded benefits for Chrysler members during the transition period. We re committed to ensuring that Chrysler membership remains a great value through a full range of special members-only programs and social events, art
travel opportunities, and new perks such as special access and discounts at an expanded number of partner organizations. How will the project impact Chrysler Museum staff? The Chrysler s success is due in very large measure to the hard work and dedication of its skilled professional staff. The Museum is committed to retaining as many of our current employees as possible throughout the building project. We will do this by reassigning staff whose current jobs will not be necessary while the Museum building is closed to other duties and to satellite locations. While we expect that this will be possible for a majority of the staff, we cannot promise that some personnel changes will not be necessary. What will happen with school tours? The Museum s education department is working closely with regional school systems to ensure that the exhibitions in our satellite spaces at MacArthur Center and Old Dominion University specifically address the curricular needs of area educators. We expect to offer a full range of school tours, including some new and specially designed ones, at both locations and in the Glass Studio. We will also be working to produce enhanced online learning resources for teachers and to design special in-classroom and outreach experiences that will as closely as possible replicate the tours usually offered in the Museum. What changes will come to The Museum Shop? To permit construction The Museum Shop will remain closed from January 2013 to April 2014. Limited retail opportunities will be available at the Glass Studio during the transition. At grand reopening, we ll unveil a modernized, updated Museum Shop in its current location. What will happen to the Library during construction? The Museum Library will be open only by advance appointment during the time when the building is closed. Staff will continue to have access. What impact will the project have on docents, volunteers, and Museum support groups? Volunteers will continue to play a key role at the Museum during construction. For example, docents will offer tours at satellite locations as a part of our expanded outreach efforts, and floral displays will be a regular feature at special events and at satellites. We also plan to use the transition period as an opportunity to closely examine the overall structure and goals of the Chrysler s volunteer programs and support groups to ensure that they are appropriately organized to meet the evolving needs of the Museum.