Annual Report (10.1 MB PDF) - Cleveland Museum of Art

Rafael Viñoly at the
October 2005
groundbreaking.
Literally hours after the Board of Trustees voted on March 7, 2005, to go
ahead with the first phase of the expansion and renovation project, art
handlers began removing works of art from the museum’s galleries. The
decision to close our facility for a brief period and keep the entire collection
in the building complex was both mission-driven and economic.
While it might have been possible to store substantial portions of the collection
at remote sites, the transportation of large numbers of works of art
would have posed unpredictable risks to their safety; furthermore, very
few storage facilities can meet the humidity, temperature, and security requirements
to keep the collection safe. It became clear that the very best
place to store the collection during construction was within our own
walls, where climate control and security already met museum standards
and the movement of art would be minimal and as safe as possible.
Once that issue was settled, discussion turned to whether parts of the
collection could be kept on view during the completion of the project.
Renovation and construction around the 1971 Marcel Breuer building
entrance would necessitate closing the north doors for approximately six
months. During that time, intrepid visitors could have used the south entrance
steps to the 1916 building, but this would have meant delaying the
start of the renovation of that structure until the fall of 2006 and its
completion until the fall of 2009. Additional complications arising from
the movement of our collection and staff within the building would have
resulted in an overall delay in the project completion date of about two
years had the museum elected to try to keep some of the galleries open
during the project. Those extra years of labor and the rising cost of materials
would likely have added tens of millions of dollars to the total budget.
Having already raised $116 million toward the $258 million project
budget, the Board of Trustees elected to minimize the time required to
complete the project and maximize the value of the investment they had
decided to make in renovating and expanding our facility.
Thus, with one eye on the well-being of the art and the other on the
budget, the museum elected to move the entire collection into the 1958
building and proceed immediately with renovations of the Breuer and
1916 buildings so that those spaces could reopen to the public as soon as
possible. Simultaneously, construction of the new east wing also began. As
the work is completed, the collections will be reinstalled in the renovated
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