Work On Natural History Museum Expansion Begins

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A long-debated expansion to the American Museum of Natural History is now taking physical shape.

Work began Thursday on the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation as construction vehicles were spotted inside Teddy Roosevelt Park, according to reports and opponents of the plan. A small bulldozer was spotted on one of the park's lawns ready to begin work on the foundation for the quarter-acre expansion, the New York Daily News reported.

Work being currently being done at the site includes 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.

For the past months the museum has conducted prep work such as removing the New York Times capsule, placement of temporary trailers on the Arthur Ross Terrace and the closure of a park entrance at West 79th Street and Columbus Avenue.

Neighborhood residents can follow along with construction updates on the museum's website, a spokesman said.

A member of the group Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park — which filed a lawsuit in March to block the expansion — said the museum is employing "bully" tactics to force its project through.

"We’re not surprised at all by the AMNH’s actions or by their continued attempts to bully the UWS community," Laura Messersmith of Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park told Patch. "We’re looking forward to having our day in court on Oct 2. This community cares deeply for our public parkland and we’re willing to fight for it."

The non-profit advocacy group's lawsuit claims that the Parks Department incorrectly interpreted a 142-year-old law when it approved the American Museum of Natural History's plan for the Gilder Center. The group argues that the city was incorrect to approve the plan without initiating the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a public approvals process for new developments and land use actions.

The American Museum of Natural History filed building plans for the Gilder Center in August of 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. A spokesman for the museum declined to comment on the pending litigation, but said "at a time when science literacy has never been more important the Gilder Center will provide significant new capacity to enhance the public understanding of science."

Photo courtesy Ralph Appelbaum Associates