Aspen Museum raises US$65m ahead of move
Aspen Museum, in Colorado, US, has raised US$58m (£38.1m, €44m) as part of a US$65m (£42.7m, €49.4m) fundraising campaign to move into a much larger facility.
Construction on the new 33,000sq ft (3,065sq m) building, designed by award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, has already begun and will be completed in 2013.
The museum has seen demand rocket in recent years, with a 200 per cent increase in budget, number of students served and annual visitors.
To accommodate the surge in numbers, a larger property was acquired in August 2011 with construction starting in late 2012 to be completed in 2014.
The new museum is 100 per cent privately funded an will include 12,500 sq ft (1,161sq m) of gallery space, one of the only public rooftop views of Aspen Mountain and a theatre space.
The new exhibition space is due to open 9 August, 2014.