4/14/2015 Construction Groundbreaking Celebrates “New” Witte Museum - Online - February 2015

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Construction Groundbreaking Celebrates “New” Witte Museum Museum embarks on major expansion and renovation

BY KATHLEEN PETTY AND MARIAJOSE ROMERO

More than 75 years after Mayor John Tobin celebrated the opening of the Witte Museum in 1926, Mayor Ivy Taylor and other city and community leaders gathered today, Feb. 9, to recognize what’s being called the “new Witte Museum.” Over the next two years, the Witte Museum will add more than 100,000 square feet of space through an expanded and renovated main building and the addition of the Mays Family Center, which will host special events and exhibitions. The construction project makes up phase two of a three phase, $100 million improvement project. “Today we are beginning a new century of the Witte,” said Marise McDermott, president and CEO of the museum. Phase one, which already has been completed, brought the addition of the H-E-B Body Adventure and the Robert J. and Helen C. Kleberg South Texas Heritage Center, among other improvements. The Mays Family Center is slated to open in 2016 while the main building will reopen in 2017. Here’s a look at what to expect and what to see while construction occurs on the Witte campus. New Witte http://www.sanantoniomag.com/Online/February-2015/Construction-Groundbreaking-Celebrates-New-Witte-Museum/ 1/7 4/14/2015 Construction Groundbreaking Celebrates “New” Witte Museum - Online - February 2015

RENDERINGS COURTESY LAKE | FLATO ARCHITECTS, GALLAGHER & ASSOCIATES

The new main building of the Witte Museum is being designed by San Antonio architecture firm Lake | Flato and will include a new façade plus additional space. The new entryway will include a life-size pterosaurs model flying overhead and a technologically driven admissions area that will lead visitors into a space showcasing what Texas looked like in the past. The Witte already attracts more than 400,000 visitors annually—including more than 150,000 younger than 12—and the additions will help to reach additional residents and tourists, said City Manager Sheryl Sculley. Mays Family Center When the family center opens in 2016, Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed will be the first major touring exhibit. The largest display of its kind in the U.S., the exhibit will use artifacts to delve into the ancient Mayan culture and is just the first of what McDermott said will be many exhibits to visit the space. The center also will serve as an event center that can host more than 800 for banquets and up to 2,000 for receptions. http://www.sanantoniomag.com/Online/February-2015/Construction-Groundbreaking-Celebrates-New-Witte-Museum/ 2/7 4/14/2015 Construction Groundbreaking Celebrates “New” Witte Museum - Online - February 2015 Outdoor Features The façade of the new main building will feature arches that form an aqueduct inspired by the Mission Espada aqueduct. There will also be a Zachry Family Acequia Garden near the San Antonio River that will contain the Acequia Madre and Diversion Dam that dates back to 1719. Dinosaurs A new Paleontology Gallery will offer visitors the chance to learn about the prehistoric creatures year-round. The skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex will be on display as well as an acroncanthsaurus. Dr. Thomas Adams, curator of paleontology and geology, is working with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department to mold acroncanthsaurus footprints for the exhibition. Still Open While the Witte’s campus will be under construction for the next few years, that doesn’t mean they aren’t welcoming visitors. Several exhibit spaces still are open, including the South Texas Heritage Center and H-E-B Body Adventure, which will continue to host special events such as its Culinary Saturdays. Jewels of the Court: A Journey Through Fiesta’s Coronation opens on March 7, showcasing more than 30 coronation robes, and Discover the Ice Age opens on May 23 in the Kathleen and Curtis Gunn Gallery. Broad Vision Between improvements at other existing museums and the opening of the Briscoe Western Art Museum, the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and the upcoming move of the San Antonio Children’s Museum, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said San Antonio is going through a cultural transformation that’s beneficial for locals and attracting out-of-town visitors. “We are indeed in the middle of a cultural renaissance,” Wolff said. McDermott added that the Witte also is part of the ever-growing Broadway Reach, a program that allows visitors to purchase a pass that grants them admission to six institutions along the Broadway corridor.

Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway, 210-357-1900, wittemuseum.org

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