Norton Museum to close 7 months for $100M expansion and upgrade

The art landmark in West Palm Beach will reopen with 37% more gallery space and a revamped campus

Norton Museum of Art offers free admission during renovation work.
Norton Museum of Art offers free admission during renovation work.

An ongoing $100 million expansion and upgrade will temporarily close the Norton Museum of Art for almost seven months, starting July 16.

The museum is scheduled to reopen Feb. 9, 2019, with new exhibitions and a new look for both the building and its 6.4-acre campus.

Under way since February 2016, the museum’s upgrade and expansion will feature about 37 percent more gallery space, a sculpture garden with 11 pieces, and a reflecting pool beneath a 43-foot canopy.

The museum’s interior space will expand to 133,000 square feet from 120,300 square feet.

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The project will move the entrance to the Norton Museum from South Olive Avenue to North Dixie Highway. The finished property also will have classrooms, a 210-seat auditorium, a 9,000-square-foot event lawn and a 3,600-square-foot great hall with a lounge and coffee bar.

The project’s designer is Lord Norman Foster, an architect who has won the prestigious Pritzker Prize.

The museum has stayed open despite the ongoing renovation and expansion, and admission remains free through July 15, the day before the museum is scheduled to close until February. [SouthFlorida.com] Mike Seemuth