New 'do, more doings

Art Museum fixes leaky roof, adds exhibits

Mary Voelz Chandler, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, October 6, 2007

The expanded Denver Art Museum starts its second year this weekend sporting a flattop on the Hamilton Building and an increased budget after cuts last spring.

The first phase of repairs to the roof of the Daniel Libeskind-designed building is complete, with a new layer of an EPDM (rubber) membrane in place.

But the skylights and architectural detailing will not be replaced until officials are satisfied the leak is fixed.

"The best thing is to demonstrate to ourselves and everybody else that we can put a roof on that is 100 percent secure," Director Lewis Sharp said this week.

"We'll go through the winter and spring and then be able next summer to judge how that roof performed. Then we'll do cosmetic changes."

Repairs began in early July on a leak that began to plague the museum when snow fell soon after the Oct. 7-8 opening. The museum had purchased special insurance to cover potential roof problems, and is working with the insurance company to cover costs.

Sharp said he didn't expect the problem to result in litigation. "I don't think so. But what is at the end of the day, who knows?"

Sharp said this summer that he wanted repairs complete by the opening of "Artisans and Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre," and that has happened. The Louvre show and upcoming exhibitions such as "Color as Field" and "Inspiring Impressionism" turn the 2007 season into the first typical one the DAM has had in years.

"It's good to be back in business as usual," Sharp said. "This is what we started way back in 1999."

That's when Denver voters approved a $62.5 million bond issue to construct the new building, which eventually cost $110 million.

A more traditional lineup of special exhibitions has brought the expected higher budget. The 2006-2007 budget was cut last spring from $25.5 million to about $22 million, as the museum asked 30 employees to take buyouts and reorganized the staff. The growth in 2007-2008 will be between $3 million and $4 million, said a museum spokeswoman.

The museum ended its fiscal year Sept. 30 with a balanced budget, Sharp said; estimated attendance of 630,000 last year exceeded the 600,000 Sharp said would keep the books in the black.

But Sharp is predicting no attendance goals for the DAM's second year with a new building. Setting out a projection of attendance that had to be revised down "didn't serve the institution well."

Chandlerm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2677