A renowned museum was renamed The Brooks Museum of Art and it will be rebuilt at a new downtown Memphis site. After over a century in Overton Park, its new location will be at the corner of Front St in Tennessee. Therefore, the 122,00 square foot facility will be built on a full city block between Monroe and Union Ave.
Recently, the museum leaders and city officials hosted a groundbreaking event for the Brooks Museum of Art. However, it took place about nine months after construction crews actually started digging up the ground at the site. The project first started with the demolition of the 1967 fire station on Front Street; it was once the city’s Fire Department HQ.
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Mayor Jim Strickland described the Brooks Museum of Art as a civic asset. The Mayor mentioned that the new museum would become the front porch for the city and a magnet for tourism. Therefore, he said the project’s groundbreaking was a sign of the city’s strong growth and private investments.
Development plans for the Brooks Museum of Art
According to Museum leaders, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park will stay open until the new museum opens. They expect construction on the Brooks Museum of Art to reach completion by 2025, with its opening date in early 2026. Archimania will be the architect of record, while Grinder Taber Grinder will serve as the general contractor.
The new Memphis Brooks Museum of Art was designed with nearly 50 per cent more gallery space than the current museum. According to the designers, it will also have 600 per cent more art-filled public spaces. These spaces will consist of a 10,000-square-foot community courtyard, which is nearly the size of two full NBA courts. In addition, it includes a rooftop with an expansive green space which will serve as “an art park in the sky”. There will be a pavilion as well, and both courtyard and the rooftop will be open to the public.
