By Kevin Zimmerman
If a trip to the Queens Museum of Art is on your summer agenda, you better find something else to do.
As it enters the final phase of a $65 million expansion and renovation project, the museum will close Sunday, June 2, and remain shuttered until sometime this October.
“We were dedicated to remaining open as long as possible,” said David Strauss, the museum’s director of external affairs. “But now we are in the finishing touches of our renovation and we will be closed for four months.”
Only the museum’s summer camp program will go on as planned, Strauss said. Everything else is on hold until later this fall, with a target open date sometime in early- to mid-October. The museum is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
When the renovated museum opens, it will have doubled in size and will include a new 220-foot illuminated glass facade and entryway on the Grand Central Parkway side.
It will also sport a new moniker: Queens Museum.
Strauss said the project has been under way for the last few years without too much of a disruption.
“It’s a tribute to the public that they have been able to enjoy the museum despite the sounds and smells of the renovation,” Strauss said. “We tried our hardest to stay open but this is a necessary evil.”
Reach news editor Kevin Zimmerman by email at kzimmerman@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4541.
