Natural History Museum Resumes Expansion On Limited Scale

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The American Museum of Natural History resumed work on its $383 million expansion project on Monday, just one week after a state judge place a temporary restraining order on the construction, museum officials said.

The museum is restricted to conducting limited exterior work and interior work, and is not allowed to resume tree or bench removal in Theodore Roosevelt Park, museum officials said.

"Today the American Museum of Natural History won a significant victory that will allow work to proceed immediately on the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation." David Paget, an attorney representing the museum, said in a statement.

"For the time being the Museum will not proceed with the removal of 7 trees pending determination of the overall merits of the case, on which we fully expect to prevail."

While Paget described the development as a "significant victory" lawyers representing the museum's opposition — a group called the Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park — described the development as a legal setback for the Upper West Side institution.

Attorney Michael Hiller, who represents preservationist causes throughout the city, said in a statement that he "nearly fell of my chair laughing" while reading the museum's statement.

Hiller said that lawyers for the museum attempted to get a temporary restraining order preventing the museum from conducting any construction work completely thrown out, but hen pivoted and agreed to a deal that would allow the museum to conduct interior work while restricting work in the park.

"What can’t the Museum do? They can’t touch the trees, the benches, the paths, the wildlife, or even a single blade of grass — period," Hiller said in a statement. "In short, the Order plainly and unequivocally states that Museum cannot do ANY work in the Park. If that’s a victory for the Museum, I can’t imagine what defeat looks like to them."

Work on the Gilder Center began in September, when construction vehicles were brought into Theodore Roosevelt Park and the museum began closing some park entrances to put up construction barriers. Work that was being done at the site included constructing a temporary park access path near West 80th street and installation of tree protection, a museum spokesman said. Once those two tasks are complete, workers will install the construction site fence for the Gilder Center project, the spokesman said.

Opponents of the plan said that work has already resulted in the removal of three of the park's trees and other vegetation such as shrubs and small plants.

The American Museum of Natural History filed building plans for the Gilder Center in August 2017 after receiving approvals for the project from Community Board 7 and the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2016.

The $383 Gilder Center will expand the American Museum of Natural History's footprint into Theodore Roosevelt Park by a quarter-acre, according to museum plans. The new five-story facility will add a total of 230,000 square feet of space to the American Museum of Natural History, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings. The American Museum of Natural History plans to complete the Gilder Center open by 2020 for the museum's 150th anniversary celebration.

Photo courtesy Ralph Appelbaum Associates