Visitor Update: Museum Begins Major Construction
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's transformation continues with construction beginning July 6, 2021.
“As we work to transform the Museum experience, we’re reimagining the ways people engage with science and nature, including a reinvention of our physical campus. We’re truly creating the museum of the future,” says Sonia Winner, the Museum’s President & CEO. “It’s our gift to the community.”
The Museum’s entryway and front are being reimagined with a lighter, glass-lined façade and architectural features that pay homage to the region’s glacial origins. A stunning new Visitor Hall will house some of the Museum’s most iconic specimens. During construction, guests will be able to enter the Museum through the parking garage.
The transformation includes a complete reinvention of the Museum's exhibits to interweave the story of planetary processes with the record of life on Earth. As part of this process, the current exhibits in Sears Hall will be deinstalled beginning July 6, 2021.
Construction will also bring the Museum’s Nathan and Fannye Shafran Planetarium offline temporarily beginning July 6, 2021. The project will further expand the potential of this Museum staple, including increased capacity and flexible seating options for exciting new programming.
Those who wish to visit Sears Hall and the Shafran Planetarium through July 3, 2021, are encouraged to plan their trip in advance. Tickets may be purchased online at CMNH.org. Once construction begins, visitors can expect ambient noise.
During construction, visitors are invited to enjoy some of the Museum’s recently unveiled new spaces, including the Thelma and Kent H. Smith Environmental Courtyard, the redesigned Murch Auditorium, and Current Science, where they can interact with Museum researchers and explore a newly installed exhibit focused on extinction.
This November, the Museum will open a special centennial exhibit that will delve deep into the Museum’s 100 years of discovery as well as chart the possibilities of its future. Favorite Museum specimens on display in the exhibit will include Balto the heroic sled dog and items illustrating the bald eagle conservation success story.
By putting the visitor at the center of the experience, the Museum’s transformation will pioneer a new model for how natural history museums engage the public. Learn more about the Museum’s
Transforming the World of Discovery campaign.
The Museum broke ground on June 24, 2021. Watch a livestream of the groundbreaking on the Museum's Facebook page.
