Albany, New York

12210

information@

albanyinstitute.org

 The Road to 2001: A Museum Odyssey

The Institute will be able to fully operate for 12 months each year, attract more tourists and regional audiences! Environmental controls, although invisible, may in fact provide the most significant and long-term benefit. Aside from preserving our nationally significant collections, environmental controls will provide air-conditioning. For the first time, the AIHA will be able to take advantage of a whole new summer season of exhibition and education programs and participate in a larger summer arts scene which draws tourists and visitors from around the world.

• Traveling exhibitions will attract crowds – lack of environment controls has prevented AIHA from featuring some nationally touring exhibits, which attract thousands of people. Immediate exhibition plans include featuring two traveling exhibitions from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art, and an international exhibition with Dutch art celebrating the 350^th Anniversary of Beverwyck.

• Increased public access to nationally significant collections and more effective preservation – due to a new conveniently located collections storage wing, a vastly improved library, 14 exhibition galleries, and improved technology.

• The museum’s exterior ambience will be more attractive and user friendly as well as provide a sense of stability to our neighborhood and downtown Albany. Visitors will be drawn into the museum by passing through a sculpture garden, and an outdoor café. They will enter a new three-story lobby entrance with tiered balconies, filled with light. At night the lobby will create a bright beacon on Washington Avenue.

• A new café, shop and auditorium, all connected to the lobby link, will provide space for simultaneous activities and generate a sense of cosmopolitan excitement. Picture the possibilities: café and shop in full swing; art classes in the studio; a film series in the auditorium; a social function in the sculpture garden; and a bus tour visiting the latest exhibition in the galleries. Our new complex will allow us to meet the demand for space rental from other organizations, and to host major events and receptions.

• Enhanced Education Programs – More space for education programming includes a new Auditorium, Museum Education Center and studio/classroom space. AIHA serves around 100,000 people and provides a range of educational experiences for about 20,000 children and adults annually. AIHA is a primary provider for arts and humanities for Albany Schools.

• A bigger endowment will help the new museum maintain facilities, staff and programs, to provide future generations with adequate funds to care for the museum, and to insure stability in a range of economic environments. All of the improvements will add up to a more exciting cultural attraction that will deliver services more effectively to the public.

• Supporting the City of Albany’s revitalization and enhancing the region’s economy and quality of life – all of the above will attract new audiences and new dollars into downtown Albany and our region.

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Construction and Renovation Overview

Renovation work on the interior of the Rice Building space that will become an enlarged Museum Shop and gallery space, as well as public programming space.

Photo by Dennis Stevens

The Albany Institute’s renovation and expansion plan consists of five major construction elements, as follows:

Demolition of the existing structure at the rear of the original museum building (current Auditorium) and construction of a new " museum annex’ structure containing:

• A new receiving area, including: loading dock, receiving and holding areas, and a new elevator sized to accommodate the largest objects in the collection.
• Mechanical equipment rooms to house new HVAC, plumbing, electrical and fire protection systems to serve all collections areas of the museum.
• New environmentally controlled collections storage areas to accommodate the entire museum collection with new moveable storage systems designed specifically for each type of object tin the collection.

Renovation of the existing "museum building" to house galleries, the library/archives, and exhibition and curatorial offices and work areas:

• Preservation of the historic exterior building shell components.
• Installation of vapor barriers and insulations as required to accommodate the new collections conservation environment
• Installation of new HVAC ductwork and controls served by the new equipment in the museum annex to maintain a collections conservation environment.
• Installation of new lighting, fire protection, and security systems.
• General rehabilitations of all gallery areas
• Complete adaptive reuse of basement areas to house the library, exhibition preparation areas, and curatorial offices and workrooms.

Construction of a new entrance and lobby area linking together the two exiting but separate components of the Institute, the historic Rice House/Rice Annex, and the historic museum building/museum annex. The new lobby will provide:

• A new, highly visible, exciting and inviting entrance to the Institute.
• Easy accessibility for the disabled from both the Washington Avenue and parking lot sides of the building.
• A gathering and event space outsides the collections area.
• Access to five of the six levels of the museum from a single central elevator.
• A wonderful new multi-level "Main Street" connecting all public aspects of the museum (galleries, library, auditorium, museum store, rental gallery, education department, conference center, administrative offices, toilet rooms and coat room.)

Adaptive reuse of the Rice Annex to house the education department, rental gallery, museum store, auditorium, toilet rooms, and coat room.

• Preservation of the historic exterior building shell components.
• Installation of new HVAC systems and controls served by new equipment on the roof.
• Installation of new lighting, fire protection and security systems.
• Completion rehabilitation of the structure to house the uses listed above.

Adaptive reuse of the Rice House to house the education department offices, a conference center, and administrative offices.

• Preservation of the historic exterior building shell components.
• Restoration of the missing terra-cotta balustrade at roof level.
• Restoration of portions of the missing balustrade at terrace level.
• Partial renovation of spaces to suit their new uses.
• Partial renovation of electrical and HVAC systems.

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Selected because of their extensive museum experience, Solomon + Bauer began schematic design work on the Albany Institute’s project in November 1994. Solomon + Bauer has worked on projects for museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Okalahoma Museum of Natural History; the New Bedford (Massachusetts) Whaling Museum; the Bennington (Vermont) Museum; the Fogg Art Museum and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, both at Harvard University; and the Charleston (South Carolina) Museum.

Founded in 1970, Solomon + Bauer is a full-service architectural firm, providing programming, planning and interior design services. The firm has earned a reputation for design excellence in many types of educational, religious, cultural and residential projects, both new and renovate in character. Solomon + Bauer has received over twenty-nine local, regional and national awards for design excellence, and its work has been published nationally.

Solomon + Bauer’s increasing specialization in projects for museums and historic sites began in 1976 with a commission to design a new museum building for the Charles Museum in Charleston, SC, awarded as the first prize in a national design commission. Studies and design projects for over fifteen cultural institutions have followed. S+B has become increasingly involved with projects requiring expertise in preservation, restoration and adaptive reused of historic structures, in conjunction with retrofitting of environmental control systems. The Albany Institute’s project is an example of this type.

The specialized requirements of several Solomon+Bauer projects have resulted in the development of a sub-specialty in the design of collections storage areas and equipment, and in conservation laboratory design. Many projects in these areas have resulted from building environment and collections storage assessments funded by the grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities(NEH) and Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). Many Solomon + Bauer projects have given the firm valuable experience working with variety of in-house exhibit designers and several exhibit design firms. Selected because of their extensive museum experience, Solomon+Bauer began schematic design work on the Albany Institute’s project in November 1994. Solomon+Bauer has worked on projects for museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Okalahoma Museum of Natural History; the New Bedford (Massachusetts) Whaling Museum; the Bennington (Vermont) Museum; the Fogg Art Museum and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, both at Harvard University; and The Charleston (South Carolina) Museum.

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ARCHITECTURAL FIRM