2006 Queens Business Book

The Queens Museum’s building has remained almost untouched since before the Unisphere was built. Soon it will get a dramatic overhaul, though a working design has not yet been approved.

By Lee Landor

The Queens Museum of Art, like so many other cultural establishments in Queens, is “bursting at the seams.” Naturally, it only makes sense that the oldest building in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is preparing for an expansion that will double its size.

The $36 million Capital Expansion Project of the New York City building, created in 1939 for the World’s Fair, includes relocating the ice skating rink that occupies the south side of the building, and using the room for new gallery space, classrooms and public and administrative areas, according to QMA Executive Director Tom Finkelpearl.

Since the project is part of the City’s Design and Construction Excellence initiative, QMA received support from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the NYC Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Cultural Affairs, which are funding most of the expansion and renovation.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall contributed to the funding by presenting QMA with $10.7 million on March 9, the “largest single gift in the 34-year history of the institution,” according to Finkelpearl.

The ice skating rink has been relocated to a new facility in the park, which will be complete in coming months. When the museum expands into the space once occupied by the rink on the south side of the building, it will occupy 105,000 square feet – double its current size.

To Finkelpearl, this expansion, which is being constructed by Grimshaw Architects with prime consultant Ammann & Whitney, demonstrates Borough Hall’s strong support for the arts and signifies the growth and change Queens is experiencing. “Queens suffers from a third borough syndrome,” Finkelpearl said. “We have to overcome generations of bad press…and get people from Queens to love Queens.”

With no room for the storage of QMA’s permanent collection, and an eight percent increase in the attendance rate, the museum is forced to turn specifically designated rooms into multi-purpose spaces and minimize the amount of programming it offers. Adding two or three more classrooms, which will be used by children and school groups for classes, workshops and seminars, will allow QMA to accommodate the growing volume of guests.

In addition to the need of exhibition space, Finkelpearl said he wants to turn the small gallery experience into a two-hour event, a goal he believes the expansion, scheduled for completion in 2009, will afford.

In its collection, QMA has hundreds of photographs and other types of artwork that it has no room to store, and the museum cannot acquire large sculptures or art pieces because there is nowhere to display or hold them, Finkelpearl said. In order to enhance the museum and its support for local artists, and to continue being the “bridge between old Queens and new Queens,” QMA needs to have the ability to purchase art, said Finkelpearl. And while QMA has the means to do that, it does not have the room.

There are still many steps QMA must go through, and plenty of money it must secure, before it can begin construction. But Finkelpearl said he is confident and excited that the expansion and renovation will better the museum’s ability to give back to Queens residents and represent Queens as it continues to develop.