PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The second floor of the Berkshire Museum is undergoing some major renovations.
Museum Executive Director Jeff Rodgers said, "No permanent exhibitions. You're not going to see dioramas or permanently installed exhibits. It's really all about flexible gallery space on the second floor."
The changes include replacing the old oak floors and the lights, he addition of small "mobile museum units," two new bathrooms and a seating area, and converting two galleries into classroom spaces.
Rodgers said, "It's those studio and laboratory spaces and those small galleries that really are the activation points. Getting people engaged in active learning, right up there in our galleries, being able to focus on local exhibits in those pocket galleries."
Rodgers said this is Phase 2 of the 118-year old museum's renovation. Phase 1 was completed over this past summer and involved replacing an old sewer line and improving the building's foundation.
"Waterproofing all of those foundation surfaces, and putting in an all-new drainage system. So we're moving water away from the building into drainage areas, and hopefully keeping it away from the walls altogether," Rodger said, adding they're hoping to finish construction by August 1 ---just in time to hopefully re-open at full capacity. "Hopefully, that will give us a chance to still be out with masks, but perhaps we've reached herd immunity and the world is ready to come back out and engage, and we want to be ready to welcome people back out into the world."
More information is available at berkshiremuseum.org/next-steps.