Building Museums: A Handbook for Small and Midsize Organizations

Perhaps your museum’s archives have run out of space, or its public programs have outgrown their facility. Perhaps a generous donor or an energetic campaign has provided the funding for a renovation, a new wing, or a new building. Whatever the circumstances, small and midsized museums can find themselves taking on a construction project. But those responsible for seeing that it’s done right—board members, museum professionals, and skilled museum volunteers—are seldom experienced in the high-stakes world of construction management.

This handbook outlines the processes and explains the complexities of renovating and building facilities. It highlights what issues to consider and what questions to ask; it outlines steps from needs assessment and project planning to design development, budgeting, construction, and, finally, settling into the new space; it provides the vocabulary and framework for the specific challenges of museum construction.

Written by staff members at the Minnesota Historical Society who have consulted on scores of building projects, this volume helps museum professionals and volunteers understand the construction process to achieve their goals in a time of tight budgets.

Robert Herskovitz, outreach and field conservator, Timothy Glines, former manager of outreach services, and David Grabitske, manager of outreach services, have a total of sixty years’ experience in their work for the Minnesota Historical Society advising museums across the state.