$16 million facility on Louisiana's campus near completion


LOUISIANA La. — Construction of the University Art Museum at UL is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 19.

Museum Director Herman Mhire said that crews have finished the bulk of the job and are now working on the finishing touches of the $16 million facility, which isn’t expected to be officially unveiled until next month.

“They’ve been working weekends and weekdays,” Mhire said. “They’re very close.”

The museum is already a spectacle.

At 5 p.m. each night, the 64 tube lights that line the building come to life to give the structure a blue-violet glow.

“It’s so beautiful. It’s unbelievable,” Mhire said.

Mhire said that crews are now working down an 800-item “punch list” — making sure all the lights are working properly, checking the security system, taking care of any scuffed walls, and vacuuming the carpet.

“You just go around the building and check all the little things,” Mhire said.

The museum’s first exhibit is scheduled for April — Andrew Wyeth’s Helga: An Intimate Study.

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Richard Burgess
rburgess@theadvertiser.com