Some Cape Ann Museum board members and staff celebrated Monday the first day of the $9.5 million renovation of the museum’s downtown campus.
The project is expected to create world-class gallery space to better tell the story of the region’s rich history.
About a dozen people took the hardhat tour, entering the museum via a construction entrance on Federal Street, a short, narrow street that runs along the north side of the museum connecting Pleasant and Elm streets.
With the downtown campus closed for construction, the museum has transitioned its operations to its CAM Green campus at 13 Poplar St.
Once inside the Pleasant Street building, the party climbed the stairs to the third floor and took in plans taped to a wall, adjacent to a doorway that had been cordoned off with plastic. The group stood by what will be a new suite of galleries devoted to temporary exhibitions and 20th and 21st century art.
“Today ushers in a new era of bringing people together through art, stories and experiences,” museum Director Oliver Barker said. “The renovation of the downtown campus is an important pillar of the CAM-150’s campaign marking the 150th anniversary of the museum’s founding in 2025.” The museum was founded in 1875.
Barker, who was joined by some family members during the tour, said the downtown campus renovations will provide essential infrastructure to expand the museum’s offerings and serve a wider and more diverse population.
“They will change the museum in a way that brings leading art museums, artists, private collectors, teachers, residents and visitors together to share the history of Cape Ann in art, storytelling, research and learning,” he said. “CAM is where art meets life and life meets art.”
CAM-150 aims to raise $20 million, and among its efforts are the renovations to the downtown campus that’s scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2026. The downtown renovations are being overseen by the Boston-based architectural firm designLAB, and these will focus on HVAC and lighting system upgrades to 40% of the campus.
The work is designed to create reimagined 20th and 21st century art gallery spaces, fisheries and archival galleries and a revitalized CAM Studio for Education.
Among those marking the first day of work by management firm Windover Construction of Beverly were Barker, Chief Curator Martha Oaks, Board Chair and CAM-150 Campaign Tri-Chair Henrietta Gates and Board member and Tri-Chair Caroline Hovey. Board member and Tri-Chair J.J. Bell was to get a glimpse of the work after the initial tour.
Also part of the group were Pat Layman, the museum’s director of development; Holly Erickson, CAM’s events and stewardship manager; Windover Construction President and CEO Stuart Meurer, and Windover Senior Superintendent Bill Young.
The museum has five buildings of various ages downtown. The renovations aim to unify them in a way that enables a better visitor experience with better wayfinding and a revisit of the narrative presented in the galleries, especially when it comes to the fisheries and granite industries and other industries important to Gloucester today, Barker said.
Renovations have received Community Preservation Act funding from the city and funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, with state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, and state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, instrumental in securing $475,000 in support of the renovations.
“Just that it’s so exciting to see the work begin,” Hovey said. The effort began in 2019 and paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the museum has been busy the past two years getting ready for the work.
“You’ll be amazed at how great it’s going to be,” she said of the renovations.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.