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A proposal to link the two buildings of the Portland Art Museum with a glass box topping a narrow arcade drew critical comments from the Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday.

Designers are working to solve several challenging aspects, including where truck loading will occur and how to shape a walkway between the two buildings.

The commission spent more than two and a half hours Monday evaluating the Rothko Pavilion designs from Hennebery Eddy Architects of Portland and Vinci Hamp Architects of Chicago. The Historic Landmarks Commission invited two design commissioners, Julie Livingston and Tad Savinar, to join the discussion.

Perhaps the most intractable issue is how to route trucks to a loading bay. The museum requires security to move priceless and irreplaceable art collections. A proposal to have trucks enter from Jefferson Street was not received well, and commissioners admitted they had few solutions to offer.

鈥淓verything about this is an incredibly difficult design problem,鈥� Design Commission Chairwoman Julie Livingston said.

The Portland Art Museum’s original building, designed by Pietro Belluschi, opened in 1932. The neighboring Mark Building was constructed in 1970. In between lays the former Madison Street thruway, which was vacated by the city and given to the museum with a public easement.

The museum’s $50 million Rothko Pavilion project was kick-started by an anonymous $8 million gift and a $5 million contribution from the Schnitzer family. It aims to bring together the two separate buildings and ease access to and circulation within the museum.

A packed house greeted the commission’s design advice meeting. Some residents of the neighboring Eliot Tower condominiums testified in favor of maintaining between the buildings a public walkway that would remain open at all times.

The architects’ solution for the walkway 鈥� essentially a glass tunnel through the museum, with a 10-foot clear height 鈥� drew some criticism. The walkway would connect pedestrians traveling east-west between Park and 10th聽avenues.

鈥淭his feels like the least amount of giveback that can be done to maintain a connection between these two streets,鈥� Livingston said. 鈥淭he whole thing feels inhospitable and ungenerous.鈥�

The tunnel, as designed, wouldn’t work, according to Historic Landmarks Commissioner Maya Foty.

鈥淚t’s an afterthought,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s squeezed in there.鈥�

The designs presented Monday were preliminary, said Tim Eddy, president of Hennebery Eddy Architects.

鈥淭he project design is very much a work in progress,鈥� he said.

Commissioners said much work remains to make the building respond to public realm guidelines.

鈥淭his feels like a design exercise where you started in the middle of the building and worked out,鈥� Savinar said. 鈥淵ou need to start in the city and work in.鈥�

The project should mesh well with the surrounding neighborhood, including the Park Blocks, St. James Lutheran Church and the Eliot Tower, he said.

鈥淭his is the most present cultural institution in the city of Portland,鈥� Savinar said. 鈥淭he invitation in should be clear, graceful. It should invite all.鈥�

Commissioners suggested the design team look at other examples of glass-box architecture done well, including the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City and the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado.

The proposed permeable glass exterior would showcase art to passersby and form a significant response to public realm guidelines, Eddy said.

鈥淵ou can experience the museum every day of the week, whether it’s closed or not, whether you bought a ticket or not, which is a huge opportunity,鈥� he said.