Construction Begins on Transformative Expansion of the Bruce Museum

Bruce Museum Executive director and CEO Robert Wolterstorff with a model of what the Bruce will look like following renovations. Photograph by Bob Rozycki

Soon, the “New Bruce” will rise from the ground. 

 Following the recent success of its ongoing, community-wide fundraising effort, leaders of the Campaign for the New Bruce have announced that construction will begin in October on the centerpiece of the Bruce Museum’s transformative renovation and expansion project: a three-story, 43,000-square-foot addition that will more than double the size of the Museum, adding state-of-the-art exhibition galleries for art and science and new education and community spaces, including a restaurant and auditorium.

 The New Bruce Campaign Committee, Museum leadership, and staff will celebrate this milestone achievement by hosting a “shovel-in-the-ground” ceremony on Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 10:00 am. In keeping with local and state COVID-19 guidelines, the invitation-only event for major donors and other key stakeholders and supporters will be conducted in accordance with current capacity limits, social-distancing measures, and health-safety protocols. For details about viewing the Groundbreaking Celebration online, please visit brucemuseum.org or call 203-869-0376.

 The new addition will feature the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Education Wing, as well as the William L. Richter Art Wing, including vastly expanded accommodations for changing art exhibitions and, for the first time, significant space to show the Museum’s permanent art collection in four new galleries. The entire ground floor of the new addition will be free and open to the public during Museum operating hours and available for special-event use by local community groups, families, and businesses. 

 In another first for the Museum, a welcoming restaurant will offer both indoor and outside dining. The popular Museum Store will greatly increase in size. An auditorium, equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems, will host audiences of 250 – more than double the capacity of the Museum’s current lecture gallery. The project also includes updated storage areas for its growing collection of 25,000 works of art, natural history specimens, and scientific objects and artifacts, and a new study room to welcome visiting researchers to explore the collections.

 “This is an incredibly exciting moment for Greenwich and its hometown Museum, and for the entire Fairfield-Westchester region,” says Robert Wolterstorff, The Susan E. Lynch Executive Director. “I know I speak for our family of staff, members, volunteers, and Trustees in expressing our profound gratitude to the community for their support.”

“I would also like to thank all our generous donors for sharing our vision of creating an exciting and beautiful New Bruce for Greenwich and the greater Fairfield and Westchester County communities,” adds James B. Lockhart III, Chair of the Bruce. “And our gratitude as well to Robert and his team, the New Bruce Campaign Committee, and all our Trustees – past, present, and Honorary. The Campaign will continue to raise funds for future phases of the New Bruce expansion and the Museum’s Endowment, to operate the dramatically expanded educational programs, vibrant community spaces, and enhanced exhibitions for art and science.”

 Designed by the award-winning New Orleans firm of EskewDumezRipple, the new building addition will open directly onto Bruce Park and feature a delicate striated façade of cast stone and glass inspired by the surfaces of Connecticut’s quarries and the rock outcrops of Bruce Park. Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects is creating a natural environment around the New Bruce that includes a sculpture trail and places to stroll and play. Turner Construction Co. is the lead contractor for the renovation and construction project. 

 The Grand Opening of the New Bruce is anticipated for the fall of 2022.

 Since its launch in 2014, the Campaign for the New Bruce has received donations from more than 330 individuals, businesses, and foundations. This includes 100% support from members of the Museum’s renowned Docent program, as well as full support from the Museum’s professional staff. In addition to their tens of millions of dollars of previous gifts, the Museum’s Board of Trustees is poised to complete a separate, $1 million fundraising initiative to underwrite one of the new classrooms in the Education Wing.

The New Bruce Campaign Committee is led by Museum Trustees John Ippolito and Heidi Brake Smith and past Trustee and Museum Council Co-Chair Susan V. Mahoney. To learn more about the Campaign for the New Bruce and to participate, please visit NewBruce.org or contact Whitney Lucas Rosenberg, Director of Development and Institutional Advancement, at 203-413-6765 or wrosenberg@brucemuseum.org, or Barbara Tavrow, Campaign Director, at 203-249-8225 or btavrow@bjtavrowconsulting.com.