The Anchorage Museum announced Tuesday that it will construct a 25,000-square-foot addition to create expanded space for its permanent art collection.
A press release said the addition would cost $17.5 million and would be privately financed by Ed Rasmuson, members of the Rasmuson family and the Rasmuson Foundation. It will be called the Rasmuson Wing.
The expansion will add one story onto the existing east wing, above the Imaginarium and facing Sixth Avenue. Work will coincide with a remodeling of the second-floor historical galleries, with both projects expected to be completed in 2017. Galleries and public spaces not affected by construction will remain open during the process.
The museum's permanent collection contains major works by Alaska's "old masters," like Sydney Laurence, Eustace Ziegler and Fred Machetanz. It also includes more recent work by Alex Combs, Pat Austin, Jim Schoppert and other contemporary artists. Some have been displayed in the galleries west of the atrium in the space now occupied by a display on the history of Anchorage. The museum is able to display only a few at this time.
The new section will also provide space for rotating exhibitions and other things from the museum's permanent collection, estimated to include more than 26,000 items ranging from contemporary craftwork to prehistoric artifacts. Many pieces, including contemporary Alaska Native art, are generally kept in storage because of limited space to exhibit them.
The museum has selected Davis Constructors as the general contractor. The pre-construction design work is being done by the architectural firm McCool Carlson Green.