http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/23/arts/artsspecial/23BERN.html
(registration required) "Renovation Question: Stay Open or Shut?" By Fred
A. Bernstein
(Excerpts)
>
Plexiglass boxes protect the lions flanking its south entrance, and a
plywood ramp covers its stairs, the better to roll crates of precious
artworks into moving vans. Most of the collection is already in storage;
next week , the Pierpont Morgan Library, one of New York's best-loved
museums, will close for a $100 million renovation.
Charles E. Pierce Jr., the director, said that he had never intended to
shut the museum. "But from the first moment that I met Renzo Piano," Mr.
Pierce said, referring to the architect of the renovation, "he said I
should get used to the idea that the most efficient and economical way to
do this project was to close for at least two years.
"I was startled and a tad shaken, but I gradually came to see that he was
absolutely right."
[....]
For directors who shut down their institutions, consequences go beyond the
obvious loss of revenue and the danger that the museum's support will
erode. The impact is felt most keenly by employees who are laid off, but
also extends to scholars who are dependent on easy access to artworks.
[....]
Not everyone benefits from these [cost] reductions [i.e., "from utility
bills to security guards' salaries"]. At the Morgan, a dozen cafe workers
will lose their jobs when the museum closes next month, according to a
worker, who did not want her name used. She said, "A couple of years ago,
it would have been O.K., but in this economy, it's tough."
Museum workers' jobs are not the only ones threatened. Terri Hahn, a member
of the community board for the Manhattan neighborhood that includes the
Morgan, said she worried that some local businesses, including restaurants,
would be hurt by the closing.
[....]
All the museums try to remain in the public eye while closed. The Morgan
lent many of its finest medieval objects to the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
where they are on display.
[....]
But closing usually requires museums to put collections in deep storage,
making them difficult to retrieve. Mr. Pierce said that the Morgan had
imposed a moratorium on lending for now. "We don't like doing it, but it's
the only sensible thing under the circumstances," he said. The museum will
try to make objects available to scholars "on a limited basis," he added.
"But things will take longer; it won't be business as usual."
The biggest danger to the museums would seem to be audience attrition. Mr.
[Harry S.] Parker said that the de Young [Museum, San Francisco] had lost
about 20 percent of its membership during the closing, but that could be
from the economic downturn. At the same time, he said, "We believe we're
positioning the museum for the next 100 years."
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