ROANOKE, VA.- Approximately 95% of glass installation is complete for the new Art Museum of Western Virginia’s skylight atrium, one of the distinctive design elements of the award-winning new Art Museum building. The atrium skylight glazing will be followed by the installation of the finish trim which fits over the continuous anchor system surrounding each glass panel.

Curtainwall framing at the third floor reception area and adjacent clerestory has been installed, and the glass installation has begun and will be completed within the coming weeks. Metal stud clerestory curb framing, or low walls supporting the curtainwall system, at other locations is ongoing.

Building enclosure along the north elevation continues with metal stud framing and installation of sheathing. Zinc panels have been installed on the first and second floors of the south elevation in the art storage area. Installation of Hokie Stone on the south elevation exterior wall at the exterior stairwell next to the Roanoke Valley Printworks building will begin later this month.

Roof insulation and sheathing is complete for Elements 2, 3 and 4 and will be followed by installation of the stainless steel roof panels. Installation of the stainless steel roof panels for these elements continues. Installation of the roof insulation and sheathing for Element 6 is currently underway. Metal roof decking is ongoing above the new facility’s concourse along Salem Avenue.

The steel structure has been put into place to support the rebuilt 3-story façade of the building that formerly operated as the Lonesome Dove Bar & Grill and Tony’s Place. Previously located on Salem Avenue, the façade will be reconstructed on Market Street and will mask the new Art Museum’s electrical transformers and generator. The façade will be replicated in size, color and texture. Architectural elements from the exterior of the building were preserved and will be part of the masonry and brickwork that will begin in the next few weeks.

Installation of the building’s insulation continues primarily on level 2. Insulation installation will continue throughout the building for the next several months. Block walls on level 1 near the kitchen, storage rooms and mechanical area have been prime coated. Interior drywall has begun on level 2 of Element 3 with the installation of plywood sheathing back-up and gypsum wallboard in two of the temporary exhibition galleries. Drywall installation will continue in a clockwise direction through the building beginning on level 2. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing boiler work and air handler unit tie-ins are ongoing.

Element 1, the final element of the new Art Museum building to be erected, houses the atrium and lobby, concourse, museum store, and a portion of the café. Element 2 houses the first floor auditorium, theater and lobby, equipment platforms, primary mechanical spaces, and the second floor art galleries, including the contemporary gallery. Element 3 of the building design houses the library, boardroom, boardroom terrace, director’s office, temporary galleries, Art Venture, and a portion of the café. Element 4 houses back of house mechanical rooms, housekeeping areas, art storage and the catering kitchen, third floor reception and administrative offices, and several small galleries, including the prints and photography, regional decorative arts, Leiber handbag collection, and modernism galleries. Elements 5 and 6 together house the art loading and service docks, new media gallery and American art gallery.

A half scale model of the new Art Museum building’s roof at the intersection of Elements 3 and 6 is on exhibit in the Art Museum’s current facility as part of the Process and Promise in a New Art Museum exhibition. The Art Museum galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Admission is $3 per person Tuesday through Saturday and free on Sundays.

About the new Art Museum of Western Virginia - Scheduled to open to the public in the fall of 2008, the new Art Museum building will be a dramatic composition of flowing, layered forms in steel, patinated zinc and high-performance glass paying sculptural tribute to the famous Blue Ridge Mountains that provide Roanoke’s backdrop and shape the region’s spirit. The 81,000 square foot structure designed by Los Angeles architect Randall Stout will be the first purpose-built art museum ever constructed in Roanoke. The new facility will house significantly larger exhibition and education spaces, a flexible theater/programming space, a multi-purpose auditorium, a research library, a book and museum shop, a studio classroom, a works on paper study room, and a café with indoor and outdoor seating. All exhibition and education spaces will be wired to provide real-time, interactive distance learning experiences via high speed network to classrooms across the region and the state.