Site Improvements Underway!
2019 marked the 80th anniversary of the Long Island Museum. While tens of thousands of visitors bring a wonderful sense of excitement and energy to the museum every year, our buildings and grounds often show the strain of this constant use and ever-increasing activity.
The LIM has initiated several important projects to help plan for the maintenance and enhancement of its 14 buildings and nine-acre campus, including replacing the damaged siding on the north face of the Carriage Museum. Please read more below, and follow this link to our donation page to help support this important work. When making a donation online, please designate site improvements.
LIM Master Site Plan Initiative
The LIM is working with the architects of Strada Baxter Design, LLC to create a master site plan that will serve as a guide to help us to transform the museum campus into a more cohesive, engaging space better positioned to showcase the museum’s renowned collections, temporary art installations, historic buildings, and beautiful outdoor areas.
Through the implementation of the plan, the LIM will ensure that every visitor’s experience is an accessible, enjoyable, and educational one. Topics covered in the plan include:
- Site accessibility and ADA compliance
- Signage and wayfinding
- Collections storage
- Enhancement and expansion of exhibition galleries
- Energy usage and Green Energy alternatives
- Routine buildings and grounds maintenance
You will begin to see both subtle and dramatic changes to the LIM’s buildings and grounds in the months and years to come. Keep an eye out for exciting developments and contact us for more information or to learn about how you can help!
The LIM Visitors Center & Gift Shop Restoration Project
It has been 10 years since the LIM’s gift shop closed, and we are thrilled to report that renovation plans are well underway! Working with John Cunniffe of John Cunniffe Architects, this crucial space will feature a fresh new design that will help redefine the LIM guest experience.
Construction will be underwritten in part by a generous $300,000 grant from NYS Senator John Flanagan and private donations. Robert Reuter of Reuter Design, a Stony Brook-based design consultancy, has designed the store fixtures and furnishings which will be made by area-artisans using locally-sources materials.
Once renovated, the building will serve both as the Visitors Center, the place where we formally greet our guests and sell admission, and the Gift Shop, a reimagined shop space that will allow us to invite local and regional artists, craftspeople, and limited production makers to showcase their wares, while generating much needed revenue for the museum. Watch this space for updates on this exciting project!
A World Before Cars Gallery
A World Before Cars represents the latest phase of a major redesign and reinterpretation of the LIM’s carriage collection. In 2017, the LIM received a $40,000 planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). As a result, the LIM has been utilizing the expertise of skilled consultants and the well-regarded Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership to plan upgrades to the Carriage Museum. Key changes will include the incorporation of hands-on activities areas designed to engage a variety of different visitor age and experience levels, providing an immersive entry into the world of carriages, and the unexpected ways in which they connect to our modern lives. These updates will be found throughout the Carriage Museum and will bring to life the story of the carriages, the horses that pulled them, and the world in which they were used in an exciting and entirely new way. This transformation is slated to begin in 2021.
