According to Walter Magazine’s IG - construction will begin in October and close the museum for 3 years.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6bfhu7RBLQ/?igsh=cjlrc2c2cGxwcWcw
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https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/nc-museum-history-announces-start-exciting-transformation
Heck yeah!
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There almost having the same probj
I’m interested to see what comes of it, but I was expecting them to expand the museum; Not remodel it. I haven’t been for some time, but it was always a nice thing to see when they rotated the exhibits. I’m really curious what would be different.
Scroll back a few posts (sometime in 2023), and there was a rendering circulating for a renovation and expansion. Not sure if this still holds true, but it looked like it would tear down the part of the museum that is closest to the plaza and rebuild/expand. Again, it could all have changed given the current construction climate.
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At one point when this all first started, there were designs to take over the parking lot next door I think. As someone who hasn’t paid much attention to this since then, simply a renovationis a come down. But again, I’ve not been in the loop…
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This is an interesting announcement b/c there are so few details of what they are actually doing. The prior fundraising website has been taken down. Some of those renderings looked really cool.
I hope they still do something like that, but the lack of detail with the current announcement is concerning. That makes me think this may be underwhelming. On the other hand, I hope they would not close one of Raleigh’s major attractions for two to three years and not make a big splash.
The current announcement mentions “funding authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Roy Cooper.” Does anyone know how much funding the museum received? Because it would take a lot to build anything approaching the past renders.
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I feel the same about the new NC Education Campus off Jones St. Can’t even find a single render of it, but demolition on the site is well underway.
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3 years is A LOT of time, so I imagine whatever they’re doing will be fairly substantial. My one big request is that they update the NC history section on plantations where it mentions that “Slaves helped plantation owners cultivate their land” because … yeah lol, not quite…
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I think the (really cool) CSS Neuse Museum in Kinston has some of the best historiography of almost any recently updated museum I’ve been to - being very frank and honest about the era without wallowing in apologies and misery. It makes me optimistic about this one.
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This! They should also build on the “First in Flight” brand… I haven’t been there in years but I think they need to make it known for passersby and visitors who can’t stay for long.
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Lol yikes. Hey thanks guys… Couldn’t have done it without you!
That’s actually the only change they’re making. Just gonna take 3 years.
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I did some digging and couldn’t find anything except this post, on here, from Aug last year.
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I like that the expansion is going to be more transparent and not look like a mausoleum.
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Kinda crazy to me that this is closing next week for 2-3 years and we don’t really know much about the expansion.
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Here’s the latest update. Pretty skeletal.
Yeah this is basically all it says:
Improvements will include replacing the building’s HVAC system, installing a new freight elevator and fixing leaks throughout the building.
2-3 years for maintenance?
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Maintenance and expansion based on other articles someone shared a while back… I think 
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