Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum has warned it will be forced to close without additional funding from the Dutch culture ministry to finance planned building work. Essential upgrades are required for climate control, elevators, fire safety, security and sustainability to protect the collection, visitors and staff. The institution manages two buildings dating from 1973 and 1999 and currently receives about 1.8 million visitors annually. Major renovations are planned for 2028–2031 with an estimated cost of €104m under Masterplan 2018. The museum expects to lose at least €50m during partial closures and will need to reduce visitor capacity and exhibition programming during works.
In a highly unusual move, the director of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum announced yesterday that the museum would be "forced to close" should the Dutch culture ministry not provide additional funding. According to Emilie Gordenker, unless planned building work is funded the museum "will not be able to guarantee the safety of the collection, visitors and staff".
In a message to supporters of the museum, which represents a major attraction for international tourists and currently receives around 1.8m visitors a year, Gordenker wrote: "There is a dark cloud on the horizon." In an interview with the New York Times, she added that essential work is needed for the "climate control system and elevators, and to improve fire safety, security and sustainability".
The museum's main building, designed by the architect Gerrit Rietveld, was opened in 1973 and, in its early period, welcomed under 500,000 visitors a year. In 1999 the Kisho Kurokawa-designed wing was inaugurated, with a new entrance and temporary exhibition galleries. Since this time visitor numbers have continually risen, reaching a record 2.6m in 2017, and leading to the introduction of deliberate restrictions on ticket sales to improve the visitor experience.
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