The Michigan State University Museum is set to reopen its doors to the public on Jan. 14, with new additions and exhibitions awaiting visitors and guests.This comes after the MSU Board of Trustees approved the $28 million renovation project for the century-old building in 2021, with the renovation process beginning in 2024.
The building holds historical value to the university since being created in 1857, just two years after MSU, then called the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, was founded. MSU Museum Director Devon Akmon said with the museum’s history intertwined with MSU’s, it’s hard to find other colleges and units that have lasted that long.
“I think there are a couple of really great things about Michigan State University, and the first is the notion that we’re a land-grant – we’re meant to be accessible to everybody,” Akmon said. “The second is that when this university was founded, it also had the concept of a museum being part of that whole division. To be here today, 165 years later, and doing a renovation and thinking about the future, is a really special thing when we think about the whole history of MSU.”
Among the renovations made are modernized restrooms, climate control upgrades, new spaces for teaching throughout the building, a new immersive lab, an experiential learning gallery and student lounges on the lower and upper levels of the museum…