CBC News

The Russian government will allocate more than $177 million US to restore the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow's largest museum of European art.



President-elect Dmitry Medvedev announced the coming restoration at a board meeting Monday, according to Russian news service RIA Novosti.

The museum, in a Beaux Arts building dating from 1912, will be converted into a major complex with two exhibit areas, a concert hall, library, archive and underground parking lot. It is expected to quadruple in size.

It is scheduled to be closed from 2009 to 2012, with the reopening to coincide with its 100th anniversary.

The Pushkin Museum houses classical collections of Botticelli, Rembrandt, Magnasco, Guardi, Rubens and Fayum portraits, as well as Egyptian antiquities.

The poor condition of the building was putting the collection in jeopardy, said Irina Antonova, who has run the museum since 1962.

British architect Norman Foster has been approached to lead the redesign and restoration project for the museum, which is expected to handle more than five million visitors annually.

Foster, known for his high-tech style, also designed the three-sided Russia Tower in Moscow's new business district, the New Holland architectural ensemble in St. Petersburg and the site of the former Rossiya hotel.

Media reports in Russia say the cost of the restoration may be far more than the $177 million US allocated and point out that a restoration at the Bolshoi Theatre was well over budget.