---- — SALEM — The major phase of the Peabody Essex Museum’s $200 million expansion has gone back to the drawing board, which will delay the project two years.
The PEM confirmed yesterday that its massive construction project won’t be finished until 2019 due to the decision to search for a new architectural firm following the unexpected death last month of heralded museum architect Rick Mather.
Although preliminary work has been underway for months, the museum had not yet filed plans with the Planning Board or Salem Redevelopment Authority for its 175,000-square-foot addition. That was expected to happen as early as this summer, but now has been put off until at least 2014.
“We’ve pulled back all of our requests for meetings with (the city boards) because our design is kind of halted,” said Jay Finney, the PEM’s chief marketing officer.
Finney insisted, however, that the project continues to move forward at a fast pace and is essentially unchanged.
The museum is still adding galleries, education space and a restaurant. When it is done, the total of 550,000 square feet would make the Peabody Essex one of the largest art museums in the country.
One of the flashier parts of the expansion, a planned rooftop garden, may not happen. However, Finney said he is confident the new architect will want to take advantage of views and light from the expanded section and may include a similar amenity.
Locally, the most noticeable change will be the lack of activity on the Essex Street pedestrian mall once the current installation of mechanical systems on the roof of the Dodge wing is completed by late summer or early fall.
When that happens, barriers will be moved, scaffolding will come down, and “we won’t see anything on Essex Street for probably a year,” Finney said.
Finney stressed that this initial, $30 million phase, which includes the mechanical penthouse and other upgrades, is on schedule. He also noted that renovations have been going on inside the Dodge wing, where a new suite of galleries will open in November, increasing the museum’s space for temporary and changing exhibits.
“Now we’ll have twice as many exhibits,” he said.
PEM Director Dan Monroe was meeting with architects yesterday and unavailable, Finney said. He declined to say what firms or how many architects are being interviewed.
“By the end of the summer, we expect to be able to announce the new architects, so we’re on a very fast track,” Finney said.
No layoffs are planned as a result of the delay, he said.
Mather, 75, died April 20. The American-born and London-based architect was noted for a number of museum projects in England, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. He designed the expansion of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, which opened in 2010.
On May 10, the PEM announced it was dropping Rick Mather Architects.
“We are deeply saddened by Rick Mather’s passing,” Monroe said in a statement. “It was a privilege and an honor to work with Rick and his team. He was a gifted architect. After careful consideration, we have determined the best way forward to complete our expansion project is to engage the services of another firm for the next phase of design.”
The PEM originally announced expansion plans in November 2011. At that time, it had a 2016 completion date, a timeline that was later changed internally to 2017, Finney said.
This expansion is part of a $650 million capital campaign, of which $570 million has been raised, according to Finney.
