U. Museum ready to build new wing

The University Museum's new $15 million East Wing, scheduled to open in 2001, has no windows on one side, which might make it aesthetically unappealing to some observers. But if it did have windows, the wing would be unable to accomplish its purpose -- storing valuable organic artifacts that would be destroyed if they came into contact with air or sunlight. On Wednesday, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology officially unveiled plans for the 35,000-square-foot addition, the first new construction on the building in more than a quarter-century. "What the new wing will enable us to do is to literally preserve these incredibly precious cultural materials and at the same time allow access for all our different constituencies," Museum Director Jeremy Sabloff said. Officials have already raised about $8 million of the $15 million necessary to build the wing and hope to raise all of the necessary funding by the spring of 1999. Board of Trustees Chairperson Roy Vagelos and his wife, Diana, have contributed to the project, as have University Trustee Bruce Mainwaring and his wife. The new wing, which will extend north from the museum's east end, will house artifacts made from textiles, wood, leather and other organic materials. Such objects are wrapped in "layer upon layer of plastic" and kept in basements never meant for storage, according to Sabloff. The new wing will also relieve overcrowding problems and allow easier accessibility for students, faculty members and other researchers, officials said. Although the museum has its own fundraising staff, the University's central Development and Alumni Relations office is providing the museum with "research and prospects" for the campaign, according to Assistant Vice President for Development Thomas W. Flynn. "The president and the provost are very interested in this campaign," Flynn said. "We help coordinate with their offices and the museum where they can play an active role." Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 1999 on the East Wing, which will be the first addition to the museum since its academic Kress Wing was completed in 1971.