BAM announces $25M project to link three buildings

New space to boost presence and hold galleries

Rendering of Expansion Plans On Fulton Street in Fort Greene (credit: Brooklyn Academy of Music)
Rendering of Expansion Plans On Fulton Street in Fort Greene (credit: Brooklyn Academy of Music)

The Brooklyn Academy of Music will announce on Friday plans for a $25 million project that is being called “the last piece of the BAM campus.”

The new project will link the existing BAM Harvey Theater, at 651 Fulton Street, with a now-vacant lot at 653 Fulton Street that is set to become a one-story structure, and the ground-floor of a new residential tower at 230 Ashland Place, which will have a cafe.

Included in the newly-constructed areas will be permanent gallery space, A Sculpture Terrace, and other patron amenities, according to the New York Times.

“We need to have that presence on the corner as the neighborhood gets built up — we want to make sure our patrons know there’s A Bam Harvey Down The Street,” said Alan Fishman, chairman of BAM. “The world around BAM is changing so rapidly, and the world around Brooklyn is changing so rapidly, you’ve got to react to it.”

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BAM has raised $17 million for the project so far, and the city has contributed $6.2 million.

Work is scheduled to begin soon, and the project is slated for completion in September 2017.

Since 2004, the city has spent over $100 million to develop the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District. [NYT] — Tess Hofmann