Natural History Museum Touts 325M Expansion
The American Museum of Natural History, a four-block trove of fossils, starscapes and taxidermy, has unveiled plans for a $325M, six-story addition dedicated to scientific research and education, the New York Times reported.
The new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation would add 218k SF to the celebrated museum, which, at 1.6M SF, already ranks as one of the world’s largest. The addition would extend along Columbus Ave. on a swath of museum grounds near West 79th Street. Although it’s not yet designed, the project targets a 2019 completion date, which would ring in the museum’s sesquicentennial in style. Also the extra space will better accommodate the five million visitors that wander, lost, in the halls every year.