Update on the Addison Renovation and Expansion

Typical New England winter weather: sub-freezing temperatures, deep snow, high winds and heavy rain, have not been a deterrent to progress on the Addison Gallery's job site. Our addition is growing higher despite the changing of the seasons and our reopening date seems to be rushing towards us faster than we had ever expected.

Regular visitors to our website know that the floors of the new addition are massive concrete pours (see left, click images to make them bigger), thousands of square feet of pristine, smooth concrete just itching to have initials carved in it. Once the foundation walls making up our new storage areas and loading dock areas had set up, the first floor was poured atop a veritable forest of scaffolding and supports diligently holding up the forms (see right). Once the first floor was poured, more concrete walls were formed that will enclose the Museum Learning Center and expanded library. Again, another floor on top of that has been poured, forming the floor for the new office spaces on the upper-most level of the addition.

Meanwhile, a new structure has been built on top of the Elson Art Center that will enclose new building systems for the addition (see left). Work continues inside the Center reconfiguring the classrooms that once overlooked our courtyard. They are now walled in on our addition side with new windows looking out towards George Washington Hall on the opposite side.

Work also continues inside the original museum building. Our new super-chilled color photography collections storage area has been walled in with thick, insulating concrete block (see right). The chases for our new facade and freight elevators are formed. The new bathrooms are coming together in the basement while doorways and windows throughout the museum are being reconfigured to our new design.

As the snow begins to melt, the days get warmer, and the sun stays out longer, we grow ever closer to the day we reopen. Stay tuned to Blog Addison and http://www.addisongallery.org/ for all the latest developments on the project.


James M. Sousa
Associate Registrar for Collections and Archives