George Eastman Museum breaks ground on new visitor center, entrance

The George Eastman Museum on Monday broke ground on the Thomas Tischer Visitor Center, a project several years in the making.

The new visitor center will be funded through several sources, including a more than $1.5 million donation from retired Eastman Kodak Co. chemist Thomas Tischer. The museum also received a $1 million grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, in conjunction with the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.

Additionally, last summer, ESL Federal Credit Union acquired the naming rights to the entrance pavilion for $1 million, enabling the project to proceed.

“The Visitor Center project is a wonderful example of all that can be created through the combined resources of an individual benefactor, a community-minded corporation and New York State,” said Kevin Gavagan, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees. “We are here today because the foresight and generosity of these supporters have allowed us to initiate this transformative project, and we are most grateful.”

Tischer said he admired George Eastman and his accomplishments.

“I got to feeling it would be nice to have some accomplishment relative to a legacy, and the need for a new entrance was real,” Tischer said Monday.

Bruce Barnes, the museum’s Ron and Donna Fielding Director, met Tischer shortly after joining the museum seven years ago. Tischer pointed to the exterior doors of the cafe and said, “Don’t you think the museum entrance should be there?”

In fact, in 1989, when the museum underwent major renovations, it was intended that a new parking lot would be constructed in the northwest corner of the property, closer to the entrance, but budgetary constraints upended that plan.

Tischer’s donation and the NYSCA grant will enable the reconfiguration of the Eastman Museum’s entrance and visitor center.

“During my seven-year tenure, our institution has appropriately placed the highest priority on the restoration of George Eastman’s landmark home and on upgrading the storage environments for our world-class collections,” Barnes said. “Yet, about three years ago Tom approached me and said he wanted to make a meaningful contribution to advancing the George Eastman Museum during his lifetime, and we agreed that we would work together to find a way to make the museum more welcoming and easily accessible, in part by relocating the main entrance so that it could be closer to the parking lot.”

The ESL Federal Credit Union Pavilion will serve as the museum’s new entrance, next to the Dryden Theatre. A new admissions desk, gathering places and renovated education and meeting hall will greet guests, as will a more mission-focused gift shop and a relocated café that includes seating in the historic Palm House.

The pavilion will be a glass-and-steel structure in front of the west façade of the one-story building, which originally served as Eastman’s garage and currently is the location of the museum’s café and shop. The structure will retain the historic façade of the garage.

The visitor center was designed by Flynn Battaglia Architects of Buffalo, while the Pike Co. served as general contractor.

Monday’s groundbreaking was attended by a number of local community and business leaders including Mara Manus, executive director of NYSCA; Monroe County Executive Adam Bello; Rochester Deputy Mayor James Smith; and Rep. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, among others.

ESL President and CEO Faheem Masood noted that 2020 marks ESL’s centennial and said that the organization’s purpose is to help the community thrive and prosper.

“At ESL we recognize the important role the Museum plays in our community. It brings the history of photography and film to life for the world to see and it allows us to celebrate the life of a man who did so much in the name of benefiting the Greater Rochester community,” Masood said.  “The impact of this project will be a welcome enhancement for the arts community and a transformation for the museum that will create a more immersive experience at one of Rochester’s most iconic institutions.”

The project is expected to be completed in July.

[email protected] / 585-653-4021
Follow Velvet Spicer on Twitter: @Velvet_Spicer