A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Tuesday at the future site of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, which is being constructed in the vacant lot next to the New-York Historical Society on Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets. Patch was first to cover the ceremony.
The 70,000 square foot expansion (which we last wrote about here) is expected to be complete by 2024, and will be the city’s first museum dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and culture.
The ceremony was attended by public figures including Jerry Nadler, Gale Brewer, Helen Rosenthal, and tennis icon Billie Jean King.
Congratulations to the @NYHistory and @LGBTQ_Museum on their groundbreaking. #LGBTQ history is New York’s history and American history. Thrilled to have the @LGBTQ_Museum on the UWS! pic.twitter.com/vw2yOxpj4C
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) September 14, 2021
Thrilled to help break ground today at the future home of the @LGBTQ_Museum at the New-York Historical Society.
The @NYHistory expansion will include a dedicated space for the United States’ 1st museum dedicated to #LGBTQ history & culture. ????????? pic.twitter.com/Q2NfrDrt2L
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 15, 2021
The completed museum will encompass four floors and will include classroom space for the Academy for American Democracy, which will host upwards of 30,000 sixth-grade students from around the New York City area, as well as an upgraded space for the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. There will also be an entire floor dedicated to the history and culture of the L.G.B.T.Q. community in New York City.
To learn more about the future museum, please visit thelgbtqplusmuseum.org.