Infrastructure Upgrade Projects

Aerial view of the Worcester Art Museum campus showing the original building and the five additions constructed over the course of 85 years.

Safeguarding the Museum and collections

Over the course of the next several years, a range of physical improvements will be made to the Museum’s historic campus. These include envelope repairs and restorations, plus mechanical, electrical, IT, environmental controls, and fire protection system upgrades—all of which are included in WAM’s Strategic Plan 2022-2027.

The current Museum campus was built in six different stages over the course of 125 years, with the most recent addition now nearly 40 years old. After decades of wear and tear, as well as deferred maintenance, the building has a range of pressing, age-related physical plant needs that must be addressed. Adding modern, energy efficient, and code-compliant systems and updating the infrastructure will safeguard the Museum and its collections for generations to come.

The planned infrastructure upgrade projects include the following:

Building Envelope Improvements

• Roof replacements and repairs
• New skylight in the Fuller Conservation Lab
• Exterior façade and masonry repairs

Systems, Infrastructure, and Code Compliance

• Fire protection and life safety
• Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and environmental controls
• Information technology
• Art movement and storage
• Elevator updates

Completion of some of these facility upgrades may require temporarily closing galleries or public spaces. Please check our website regularly for communication related to gallery closures and other announcements.

These infrastructure upgrade projects are supported in part by the Museum’s Facility Reserve Fund, created by the George I. Alden Trust and Stoddard Charitable Trust. Funding is also provided by the Albert J. Gifford Charitable Trust; Hoche-Scofield Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee; an anonymous foundation; and the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, a program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, co-administered by MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council.