Opening the doors to a more accessible PMA
Something big is happening that will change the way you experience the museum, and it starts the moment you come inside.
“After years of planning, fundraising, and fabricating, we are thrilled to upgrade the [front] doors to be accessible and user friendly for our visitors.”
At the beginning of the new year, we are installing new, ADA accessible front doors at the entrance of the Charles Shipman Payson Building.
Although beautiful, the existing doors that were selected by Harry Cobb (I.M. Pei) in the early 1980's lacked the capacity to ever be retrofitted to accommodate automatic door openers that are now commonplace. While grandfathered under law, the replacement of these doors was a priority and will now allow our museum to be open and accessible to everyone.
This project is at the core of our Strategic Plan and values of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI), and we are thrilled that this major upgrade will forever change how visitors begin their journey exploring the PMA .
This means that over the course of six weeks, starting January 3 through February 16, 2022, the PMA will be closed to the public. The museum will reopen to the public on February 17 with a special Member’s Preview of North Atlantic Triennial.
The museum will be fully staffed during the closure, so please feel free to call us at 207-775-6148 or email us at rsvp@portlandmuseum.org with any questions or comments. While the onsite PMA Store is closed during this period, the Online Store is open with curbside pickup available Monday through Friday 10 a.m.–3 p.m. For more information about the PMA Store, click here.
We a-door all your support, and we cannot wait for you to experience a new PMA with exciting exhibitions coming in 2022!
Special thanks to Harry W. Konkel and the Charles Shipman Payson Building Maintenance Fund at the PMA and Wright-Ryan Construction.
Foundation Support:
Davis Family Foundation
The PMA Payson Building Accessibility Project is supported in part by Art for All.