MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM OPENS MAJOR EXPANSION AND RENOVATION ON APRIL 29, 2006

Press release date: 
Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The Morgan Library & Museum—closed for almost three years while undergoing a major expansion—reopens to the public on April 29, 2006. The $106-million building project, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, provides the museum and center for scholarly research with double the exhibition space for its world-renowned collections. Undertaken in collaboration with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP, it is the most dramatic expansion and renovation in the Morgan's history and Mr. Piano's first completed commission in the city.

The Morgan marks the occasion with a weeklong series of special activities, capped by the public opening. The celebration includes a press preview on April 25 and a civic dedication on April 26 with New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. A performance series is also planned, with scheduled appearances by baritone Thomas Hampson, playwright Edward Albee, author Pete Hamill, and poet Seamus Heaney.