RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia Museum of History & Culture has announced it will begin its renovation and expansion project in October.
The VMHC will be investing almost $30 million into its campus and programming for this project
“In nearly 18 months of construction, the VMHC will be fundamentally reimagined as a more welcoming, guest- and community-centered cultural attraction that is better able to thoughtfully preserve and share the full and ever-evolving story of Virginia,” the announcement said.
A preview of the Virginia History & Culture Museum’s sate of the art Rare Book and Manuscript Suite. (Courtesy of the VMHC) 
A preview of the Virginia History & Culture Museum’s sate of the art Rare Book and Manuscript Suite. (Courtesy of the VMHC) 
A preview of the Virginia History & Culture Museum’s sate of the art Rare Book and Manuscript Suite. (Courtesy of the VMHC)
While the museum originally planned to begin in 2022, the VMHC said they decided to expedited the project as part of the museum’s strategy to ride out the effects of COVID-19.
“Overlapping the planned and subsidized disruption of renovation with the uncontrollable and unplanned challenge of COVID-19 will help us in the present and certainly in the future as we reopen – renewed as an organization to a renewed world eager to reconnect,” the announcement said.
Some of the museum’s main goals are:
- Improve the VMHC’s infrastructure and programming
- Grow museum attendance by 25 percent and extend the length of a guest’s visit by 50 percent
- Provide 50 percent more educational programming across the Commonwealth
- Strategically grow its collections to reflect the vastness of Virginia’s history
Currently, the museum expects to complete the project in early 2022 and hold a grand opening in the spring.
We stand ready to create an entirely new and compelling museum experience that allows us to be the history museum Virginia needs and Virginians deserve.
Virginia Museum of History & Culture
You can learn more about the project on the VMHC’s website.
