Press

ALBANY, N.Y. - A master plan released today will dramatically overhaul the New York State Museum, incorporating such innovative features as a working carousel on its fourth floor, a running stream and a virtual canal ride.

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills and Museum officials released the master plan today after presenting it Friday to the Board of Regents, where it was enthusiastically received.

"This project will be a way for all New Yorkers and visitors, young and old, to learn even more about the Empire State," Mills said. "Museums enrich the learning experience, and museum educators are working on ways teachers can use these new exhibits to incorporate the state's learning standards."

"The new exhibit galleries will allow the museum to reassert its identity as a premier educational environment," Museum Director Cliff Siegfried said. "The new museum will both invigorate and inspire our visitors. It will reflect the richness of the entire state, both in its natural history and its people's history."

The new exhibit galleries will provide a platform for furthering the Museum and the State Education Department's commitment to lifelong learning for all New Yorkers. The project will bring modern technology into the Museum, while creating a place for discourse on current and past issues that have influenced the New York community.

The master plan project was initiated after Gov. George Pataki included a $4.5 million bond in the 1997-98 executive budget. This initial appropriation will allow the Museum to complete the first phase of the three-to-five phase project.

The project is expected to cost about $69 million, and will take between five and 10 years in several phases.

The first phase of the project, Windows on New York, will put a working carousel and a Carousel Café on the Terrace Gallery. That phase is scheduled to be complete by the summer of 2002.

A combination of state funds and private funds is expected to pay for the implementation of the other elements of the master plan, according to Siegfried.

"We are in the process of planning a capital campaign administered by our private, friends group, the Museum Institute," Siegfried said.

The public can view and offer comments on the master plan at www.nysm.nysed.gov

Master Plan Highlights

• Windows on New York:
  the first phase of the project will place a working carousel on the fourth floor terrace that overlooks the Empire State Plaza. The Carousel Café and changing exhibits will also be housed on the Terrace Gallery.
• New York State of Mind:
  a new lobby that will represent the heart of the museum where visitors will be oriented and can view numerous objects from the collections, including FDR's Packard and a suspended State Police biplane. Balconies and a mezzanine will also be visible.
• History of the New York State Museum:
  features pioneering work by museum researchers from the birth of the museum in 1836 to now.
• Shaping the Land:
  Contemporary views of New York's natural and built environments serve as gateways for understanding the forces and individuals that have combined to shape them. Visitors will see these forces through the eyes of geologists, biologists, anthropologists and historians.
• New York Ecosystems:
  How have humans and other forces changed New York environments? This section explores the intricate connections between all forms of life and the effects of human activity on delicately balanced ecosystems. A stream will flow from the mezzanine to the first floor creating an interpretive link between Shaping the Land and New York Ecosystems.
• Peopling the Land:
  Exhaustive anthropological and archaeological collections reveal the communities of Native peoples dating back 12,000 years, incorporating the popular Iroquois Long House.
• Empire State:
  New York's natural corridors and transportation networks have helped explore this state and country. Visitors can take a virtual canal ride to learn about New York's role in the settling of America.
• The Politics of Change:
  Case studies explore the state's seminal role in American politics and highlight the vitality of New York politics. These exhibits may include the Emancipation Proclamation, a copy of the U.S. Constitution, life-size photographic cutouts of suffragettes, and a theater that uses impassioned debate from the state Senate chamber.

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