The drilling, buzzing and thumping of construction fill the air at the new Remai Modern Art Gallery as the building nears 90 per cent completion.
The $86.4-million gallery is slated to open in early 2017, but construction will finish late 2016. Workers will then ensure the galleries climate is at the right settings before moving in the art and opening to the public.
Once complete, the four-floor 11-gallery building will house a permanent collection of more than 8,000 pieces of art including the world’s largest collection of Picasso linocut prints which will be regularly featured in the Picasso Gallery on the second floor.
Other features of the building include a large main atrium, a restaurant/patio, a fire place, a gift shop, common areas, student learning centres, a theatre, riverfront reception room, resource library. conference rooms and a rooftop terrace.
The city’s special project’s manager Jeanna South said they had a keen focus on creating a multi-purpose space.
“There’s so many things to do and enjoy in the building, but it’s also a way to make the building viable economically,” she said.
The building still has a $2.5 million to $4.5 million funding gap, which South said they will figure out how to fund in the near future.