Natural History Museum Reveals New Gilder Center Exhibits, Programs

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The American Museum of Natural History announced details for some of the new programs and exhibits at its new $325 million Gilder Center expansion — and there's going to be a lot of bugs.

The Gilder Center's first floor will be occupied by an "insectarium" — which will feature live insects alongside scientific exhibits on some of nature's most diverse creatures. One floor up one of the museum's most popular season exhibits, the butterfly vivarium, will find a year-round home in the Gilder Center.

But there's also good news for museum-goers who aren't fans of insects. One of the Gilder Center's main draws will be gigantic glass-walled collections core, which will feature nearly 4 million of the museum's artifacts. The new space will also contain a theater where visitors can check out the more visual aspects of certain the museum's exhibits.

“By showcasing the frontiers of research in ways that align with how people learn today, the Gilder Center will empower our visitors to directly engage with 21st-century science and with the larger world around them," Museum President Ellen Futter said in a statement. "While offering inspiring new spaces and opportunities for share learning, discovery, and community."

After a lengthy debate between the museum, its supporters and neighborhood conservationists over the contemporary design of the Gilder Center and the amount of land it would swallow up in Theodore Roosevelt Park the project design was approved by Community Board 8 and the city Landmarks Preservation Commission in October.

The project was opposed by community members who were dismayed that the new center will eat up a quarter-acre of parkland in Theodore Roosevelt Park. Project opponents also warned that the Gilder Center entrance will entice more museum visitors to enter the museum on Columbus Avenue, which would disturb those seeking rest and respite in the park.

The Gilder Center is expected to open in 2020 for the museum's 150th anniversary celebration.

Photos courtesy of Ralph Appelbaum Associates