Russian Government to Give Over $177 Million for Pushkin Restoration

MOSCOW—The Russian government will give more than 4.2 billion rubles ($177 million) for the restoration of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, RIA Novosti reports. The museum will undergo an expansion and restoration project that will increase its total area fourfold and leave the institution closed to the public from 2009 to 2012, when it will celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

The newly renovated museum will consist of a large complex comprised of two exhibition centers, a library, a larger repository, archives, a 600-seat concert hall, an office building, and an underground parking lot, all connected by underground passages with cafes and souvenir stores. British architect Lord Norman Foster was earlier reported to be leading the project. The museum is expected to rent out some of its space to private investors as well.