The Portland Art Museum‘s $111 million Mark Rothko Pavilion is nearing completion as construction crews work to meet a Nov. 20 opening date.

Museum Director Brian Ferriso pointed to “punch list” items on Monday that need finishing before the museum’s renovation and expansion centered on a landmark glass pavilion opens to the public.

On a recent visit, workers led by construction manager/general contractor Mortenson Construction were touching up paint, removing tape and sweeping floors.

The project was ambitious from the start: Constructing a new glassed-in pavilion sandwiched between two separate existing buildings, renovating the older structures, and melding it all together into a cohesive and seismically resilient 21^st century museum.

Designers from Hennebery Eddy Architects and Chicago’s Vinci Hamp Architects had to join 11 distinct floors among the three structures. Previously, there were no above-grade connections between the Pietro Belluschi-designed 1932 Main Building and the Mark Building, formerly a Masonic temple, built in 1927. Only an underground passageway joined them, requiring an elevator trip. Visitors complained of getting lost.

“If you’re looking at a map and feeling lost, you’re not looking at art and you’re not feeling welcome,” said Donald Urquhart, the museum’s director of collections and exhibitions.

Soon, a grand staircase will allow patrons to freely circulate around the museum, and additional elevators for both humans and large art pieces have been installed.

The project adds nearly 100,000 square feet of new and renovated public and gallery space. Museum officials have acquired nearly 300 new works to display.

The museum’s design takes transparency literally. Inspired in part by Apple stores, architects made liberal use of fritted glass that was expensively imported from Germany and fritted in Spain before its journey to Portland. It hangs 28 feet high, forming what museum officials call the “jewel box” of the Rothko Pavilion at the museum’s center.

Museumgoers will be able to view the downtown surrounds from indoors. During a tour this week, visitors could see the Portland Streetcar as it trundled by and daily activity at the Eliot tower and Park Blocks on either side of the museum.

“You can feel the city here,” Ferriso said.

Visitors don’t need to go inside the museum to get a taste — a glass passageway through the Rothko Pavilion allows pedestrians to see in. “Everyone will have a museum experience, whether they’re inside or out,” Ferriso said.

Other changes include relocating the loading dock to Southwest Jefferson Street and moving the library to a 4,200-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Mark Building to make way for the Crumpacker Center for New Art, an experiential contemporary art space. A state-of-the-art security center is hidden from view.

On the museum’s West Plaza, Coquelico, a café from Providore Fine Foods, will open in September.

Throughout, museum officials sought to uphold universal design principles to ensure patrons with disabilities can seamlessly experience the exhibits. No longer will patrons in wheelchairs have to enter the museum through a side door.

The design also pays attention to basic human comforts. More bathrooms are being constructed, and additional seating will be installed throughout the museum in response to feedback. “These areas for relaxation and contemplation are so important,” Ferriso said.

Construction crews were challenged by the complexity of linking HVAC and other building systems across the three structures, Ferriso said. Heating and cooling are provided by water tubes located under the slate gray stone floors. In other areas, the flooring is white oak.

No large construction project comes without surprises, and one arrived when workers discovered asbestos in the Main Building. “We ran into asbestos in the 1930s building,” Ferriso said. “That cost us some money.”

Now the project is on track to open to the public Nov. 20 with four days of free admission. Ferriso himself has announced he’ll be leaving shortly after that to take over as director of the Dallas Museum of Art after nearly 20 years helming the Portland museum.

Ferriso sounded a contemplative note as he discussed the Portland Art Museum’s collections. “We’re just stewards for a moment,” he said.

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All Classical Radio completed an ambitious transformation of its new home on the third floor of downtown Portland’s KOIN Tower, creating a facility that seamlessly integrates broadcasting studios, office space and a performance venue.

The project involved demolishing existing spaces in the Class A office building to create new offices, open work areas, production studios, a breakroom, reception area and performance space. The renovation extended beyond the third floor, with installation of a new roof antenna, generator and basement condensing unit.

Acoustic isolation proved a central challenge for the project team. The performance space and studios feature cutting-edge technology, including spring isolators, resilient channels and strategically layered materials to prevent sound transfer through walls, floors and ceilings.

The performance space’s orientation, dimensions and shape were calculated to enhance acoustics. The design integrates absorptive, diffusive and reflective panels alongside carefully selected finish materials to achieve ideal sound balance.

State-of-the-art recording studios located at the back of the performance room allow All Classical Radio to record and live-stream audio and video of weekly performances. A 16-foot by 9-foot LED screen surrounded by maple wood paneling creates an immersive experience for virtual audiences. There is a dedicated recording studio specifically for ICAN (All Classical’s International Children’s Art Network) where children centered radio is programmed and recorded.

Each studio features Sound Transmission Class rated walls, doors and windows to ensure complete sound isolation. The Terminal Operations Center houses the radio station’s broadcast capabilities, including over 30 miles of cabling connecting to roof-mounted antennas.

The project team faced significant coordination challenges working within an occupied building. Howard S. Wright meticulously coordinated mechanical, electrical and plumbing pathways with existing systems and structure to minimize disruption.

“All Classical Radio’s new media arts center offers increased opportunities to uplift the arts community and stimulate the regional economy, and its downtown location is helping to revitalize the city of Portland,” said Suzanne Nance, president and CEO of All Classical Radio, in the project nomination form. “The unique and complex scope of this buildout is a stunning example of all that can be accomplished through bold imagination, creative collaboration, and grit!”

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Washington, provided a $750,000 grant for the project – the station’s largest in more than 40 years of operations.

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