Images of a regal new expansion effort at the New-York Historical Society have been released, showcasing the addition of the new American LGBTQ+ Museum to the 216-year-old institution’s Central Park campus.

The Historical Society has chosen RAMSA to lead the $140 million expansion effort, adding space for the new entity, which was granted a museum charter just two short years ago after being established by activists in 2017.

With nearly 70,000 square feet of new space, the museum comes along with new galleries for the Historical Society and added classroom space for the institution’s ongoing academic partnerships with CUNY and the public school system. A new storage area will also allow the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library to house its collection completely onsite for the first time. 

An adjacent 10,000-square-foot vacant lot owned by the Historical Society since 1937 will host the expansion. The new museum will be hosted on the fourth floor of the expanded space featuring two galleries, administrative and storage areas for the museum’s archive. A press release promised the new institution would bring “the voices, perspectives, actions, and achievements of this community to the foreground for hundreds of thousands of annual visitors and New York City schoolchildren.” 

“To be welcoming to a new audience is really wonderful, especially for an institution founded in 1804,” NYHS president Louise Mirrer told the New York Times. 

Groundbreaking for the expansion’s final phase is set for 2022 and is anticipated to open in 2024 thanks to a $35 million grant from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs also announced yesterday.