A timeline of the Portland Museum of Art’s planned expansion

Both the children's museum and the art museum closed to the public for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The children's museum moved and reopened in a new 30,000-square-foot location at Thompson's Point.

The Portland Museum of Art launched the "Blueprint," a capital campaign to expand its downtown campus. Museum leaders said the plan had been brewing for years. The focal point is an "architecturally significant" building that would expand on or replace the former children's museum. The initial fundraising goal was $85 million; that number has increased to at least $100 million.

The art museum released the Request for Qualifications for its international design competition for a "new, contemporary, multi-use building" at 142 Free St.

Four finalists were announced in the design competition. None preserved the entire existing building at 142 Free St. in a concept design; one incorporated the façade only.

The PMA announced that the West Coast firm Lever Architecture won the design competition and would oversee the expansion project. A jury of cultural and business leaders chose the winner; they said at the time that more than 2,000 public comments submitted about the four finalists were overwhelmingly positive, and many agreed with jury members that Lever's design stood out. The concept shows a curved front that would match the height of the Payson Building facing Congress Square and a sweeping roofline inspired by Maine's Wabanaki communities. The proposal called for a building primarily made of timber.

The art museum submitted its application asking the city to change the classification of 142 Free St. from "contributing" to "non-contributing."

The Historic Preservation Board held a public hearing and voted to recommend that the City Council retain the "contributing" status of the former Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. The vote was 5-0, with one member recused.

The Planning Board held public hearings and also voted to recommend that the City Council retain the "contributing" status of the building at 142 Free St. The vote was 5-1, with one member recused. Earlier in the month, the museum laid off 13 employees in what a spokesperson described as "a financial decision, a last resort."