ANN ARBOR—This week’s ground-breaking of an expanded and restored University of Michigan Museum of Art is the initial step in further elevating the museum as a preeminent cultural attraction on campus and in the Midwest.

The 11 a.m. ceremony Thursday (Sept. 14) at Alumni Memorial Hall (the corner of State Street and South University) will feature remarks by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, UMMA Director James Steward and UMMA National Advisory Board member and museum benefactor Maxine Frankel. The event begins with a campus and community coffee hour at 10 a.m.

” UMMA will stand as a vibrant beacon for the arts,” Coleman said. “The landmark expansion and restoration aims to broaden educational and exhibition offerings for the museum’s diverse communities. “

The new 53,000 square-foot space will be named The Maxine and Stuart Frankel and The Frankel Family Wing. In May of 2004, the Frankel family of Bloomfield Hills donated $10 million for the new addition, the largest gift in the museum’s history.

” The ground-breaking of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s historic expansion and restoration is a long-awaited event” one that would never have been possible without the extraordinary commitment and support of friends near and far,” Steward said.

” We are fundamentally rethinking what a great university art museum should be for the 21st century, and I look forward to sharing this journey of renewal with all the communities we are committed to serving,” he said.

The expansion more than doubles the current museum space, and will include classrooms, an auditorium, sophisticated art storage facilities, and significantly more exhibition space along with areas dedicated to scholarship and art conservation. The building is projected to reopen in late 2008.

Designed by principal architect Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, the new vision for UMMA was recognized in 2004 by the American Institute of Architects with a coveted project design award, one of only four such awards made that year for significant designs around the world.

UMMA’s $35.4-million renovation and expansion is part of The Michigan Difference, a $2.5-billion fundraising campaign to sustain U-M’s reputation and mission as a global leader in scientific, social and medical research along with developing resources, programs and venues for the arts.

The Museum of Art’s long-time home” the Beaux-Arts style Alumni Memorial Hall” closed to the public on June 25, 2006.

Through fall 2008, the museum will operate a temporary exhibition space a few blocks away. The space is called UMMA Off/Site, and is located at 1301 South University (at the corner of South Forest). The gallery will present exhibitions devoted to photography, film, and video, along with offering public programs including tours and special events.

Founded in 1946, UMMA is considered one of the most important university art museums in the country. Its collections of nearly 18,000 works of art in the Western, Asian, and African traditions include works by most of the great masters and represent the key schools and movements in these cultures.

UMMA’s collections of works by Whistler and Picasso, and of Chinese paintings, Japanese prints, Korean ceramics, and Congolese sculpture are among the finest in North America.

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