The city approved plans to revamp the Charles McKim-designed Morgan Library & Museum exteriors for the first time in its 112-year history.
On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approved the library’s project—part of a $12.5 million restoration—to revamp the 36th Street side of the structure. The overhaul calls for altering its front yard, adding lighting, signage, and a new garden. Landscape designer Todd Longstaffe-Gowan and lighting designer Linnaea Tillett are spearheading the project.
The 36th Street side of the building had been somewhat removed from the visitor experience when a new entrance was installed on Madison Avenue under the Renzo Piano-designed expansion in 2006, according to the library. The plan will create a route from the interior of the building to the library’s exterior and provide visitor access to the site’s grounds for the first time in its history.
Several statues, part of the building’s collection that were inaccessible to the public until now, will also be added to the garden: a Roman funerary stele, a Roman sarcophagus, and Renaissance corbels.
“This is a wonderful addition,” Commissioner Michael Devonshire said. “I walk past the building all the time—it almost seems like an abandoned artifact.”
Though some commissioners raised the possibility to add more green space, the majority praised the project as it stands, and later voted to approve it.
“We’re very excited to make this portion of the landmark more accessible, and engaging, and reactivated within the streetscape,” LPC chair Sarah Carroll said.
The landmarked Italian Renaissance-style structure, built between 1903 and 1906, was commissioned by J. Pierpont Morgan and designed by Charles McKim. In addition to the library, there is an annex built in 1928, the new Madison Avenue entrance designed by Renzo Piano, and a townhouse on 37th Street which serves as the museum’s shop and restaurant.
The restoration, which was first announced in February, is expected to be unveiled in the fall of 2020.