The lot that used to house the former Children’s Museum is being temporarily repurposed as an outdoor events and performance space — until construction of the new 60,000-square-foot wing gets underway.
The Portland Museum of Art hopes to open its proposed open-air “interim community space,” at 142 Free St. this summer.
The lot that used to house the former Children’s Museum is being temporarily repurposed as an outdoor events and performance space — until construction of the new 60,000-square-foot wing gets underway. Fundraising for the $100 million expansion is ongoing.
The museum’s communications director, Marcie Parker Griswold, told Mainebiz that, pending approval from the city of Portland and the issuance of all required permits, the museum anticipates opening this summer.
“We are currently securing a contractor, and final cost estimates for the build‑out are underway,” she said. “The cost of the space is incorporated into the overall Blueprint Campaign, as we view this activation as an essential step in bringing the project to life ahead of the PMA’s future construction of a new wing.”
A rendering shows the proposed new mass-timber building at 142 Free St., on the left in the image, where the Portland Museum of Art plans to expand. RENDERING / COURTESY OF PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART
Griswold added she hoped to have some programming highlights to share next month, but had said last fall when the event space was announced, “visitors may explore rotating installations, open-air studios and art workshops that hint at the light-filled public commons to come.”
The one-story interim space is projected to be close to 5,000 square feet. LEVER Architecture, which is based in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., is designing the space, as well as the new wing.
Demolition crews removed the building at 142 Free St. last September.