PHOTOS: Crystal Bridges Museum shows off tower, bridge at new entry point

Visitors and staff members on Tuesday walk across the new 100-foot pedestrian bridge on the north side of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
Visitors and staff members on Tuesday walk across the new 100-foot pedestrian bridge on the north side of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- Scott Eccleston often looked out at the north lawn at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and thought about the possibilities that are available on that end of the property, which largely has been inaccessible to guests.

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art/STEPHEN IRONSIDE

The tower at the new north entrance to Crystal Bridges rises at right. At left is Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome, which was installed on the north lawn last week but won’t open until July.

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NWA Democrat-Gazette

Scott Eccleston, director of operations at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, shows off the new pedestrian bridge on the north side of the museum.

"I've been pressed up against that glass saying, 'If I could just take people down there,'" said Eccleston, the Bentonville museum's director of operations. "Well, this is the time. We get the opportunity."

Crystal Bridges unveiled a new entrance, elevator tower and pedestrian bridge during a media preview Tuesday, showcasing an access point that promises to better connect museum visitors to the little-used north lawn and trail system. Executive Director Rod Bigelow characterized the structure, which will open to the public May 27, as a key part of the "next evolution" for a museum that has hosted about 3 million guests since opening its doors in November 2011.

The prominent features are a 67-foot elevator tower and 100-foot-long bridge visible to guests who are making their way to the museum's main entrance.

The copper tower and bridge were designed by Moshe Safdie, who also designed Crystal Bridges, and create a third entrance for visitors who want access to the north lawn or north trails. Bigelow said the structure adds to Crystal Bridges' missions to integrate art with nature and create access for all.

"This third entrance, with the wonderful new tower, gives access to a whole new part of our museum grounds," Bigelow said. "One hundred-twenty acres will come alive with additional points where you can connect easily and quickly with parts of the campus that haven't really been accessible until now."

When the entrance opens late next month, visitors will be able to move from the galleries to the north lawn by taking the elevator from the lobby level or a staircase.

They also can take the elevator to the top of the tower, which opens up to the pedestrian bridge that stands 56 feet off the ground and offers a panoramic view of the museum's grounds. The bridge connects to the North Forest and Rock Ledge trails, which are undergoing renovations.

Bigelow said easier access to the north end opens the entire grounds to guests, which wasn't possible during the museum's first five years. It also provides Crystal Bridges with additional space for exhibitions, programs and other events, which will begin to take shape this summer.

"We will have extended programming in these spaces, educational programming, films, gatherings, weddings, temporary exhibition spaces, artist in residency programs," Bigelow said. "So all of those things will start to evolve over the next year, two years in these spaces."

One of those attractions -- Buckminster Fuller's Fly's Eye Dome -- already is visible to guests.

The dome, which is 50 feet in diameter and stands 36 feet tall, was acquired by Crystal Bridges nearly two years ago and was installed on the north lawn over a four-day period last week. While the dome is in place, it will remain closed until July for the installation of landscaping and lighting.

Work also continues on the North Forest Trail -- previously known as the Dogwood Trail -- at the top of the elevator tower in preparation for the temporary exhibition "Chihuly: In the Gallery and In the Forest." Crystal Bridges for more than a year has been preparing the trail, which is a 1.1-mile paved path designed in a figure eight, to display glass sculptor Dale Chihuly's work.

Permanent outdoor works also are being planned for the new North Forest Trail. Eccleston said the project has given the grounds team its first chance to work closely with the curatorial staff.

"When we were designing trails and grounds early on it was hurry, hurry, hurry," Eccleston said. "We worked with the architect, contractors and we made it happen. But we always said if we got an opportunity to work with curatorial, this could be a model for other museums that have large grounds."

Crystal Bridges has not revealed the construction cost of the north entrance, elevator tower and pedestrian bridge, but Bigelow said last year that the project was being funded through a long-term capital endowment provided by the Walton Family Foundation.

Bigelow also stressed that the museum's plans for the north lawn and trails is "not done day one" because the new entrance will open plenty of possibilities.

"This is the starting line for us on May 27 so that's a thrilling aspect of the project," Bigelow said. "We're looking at generations and the evolution of how art and nature evolve and really give a different opportunity to our public to engage in a very different way."

A Section on 04/26/2017

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