The City of New York, through the Department of Cultural Affairs, has promised another $4.5 million toward the project as part of the capital improvement budget for the 2005-08 fiscal years. Art Newspaper (sorry, no permalink)
Earlier this year, The Art Newspaper lamented the shabby state of the Guggenheim's landmark Frank Lloyd Wright building on Fifth Avenue. Now the museum has disclosed a plan to overhaul the structure with funding from chairman Peter B. Lewis, who offered $15 million towards the project if other trustees raise another $5 million. A spokesman for the museum told The Art Newspaper that the trustees have found the necessary money, and the City of New York, through the Department of Cultural Affairs, has promised another $4.5 million toward the project as part of the capital improvement budget for the 2005-08 fiscal years. This is the first time the Guggenheim has received such support from the City. The money will pay for the exterior restoration of the building, and could also fund interior reconfigurations including the transformation of the café into a café-bookshop, the conversion of offices into a restaurant, creating public access to the roof, and upgrading climate control and computers. “We have hired a project manager who will work with a committee made up of museum board members to establish and oversee a comprehensive restoration plan”, says the spokesperson, noting that it will take six months just to build the scaffolding needed to repair the façade. A company must assemble the components off site before erecting the structure at the museum. The earliest date that can occur is March 2005. “The timing has to do with the weather”, the spokesperson says. “We also want to create a building endowment to generate income for the upkeep of the building”. The museum has not yet set a target for this endowment campaign.