New Bedford Whaling Museum takes first public step in expansion set for 2026

The New Bedford Whaling Museum took the first public step in its “Open Doors” expansion campaign Thursday morning as it prepares to begin construction to expand its current space by about two-thirds. The $31.5 million project — projected to be completed in fall 2026 — includes a new main entrance, gift shop, community living room and exhibition space.

The expansion project is expected to begin this summer, once the museum receives approval from the city for its final request to close off William Street during construction, said Amanda McMullen, the museum’s president and CEO. The Hiller building — the white stucco box building across from the museum on William Street — will first be demolished before a new 40-foot tall structure is built in its place. McMullen said she expects the process to begin in July. 

The museum and local and state government officials emphasized increased tourism and economic benefits as the drivers for the expansion. They also said it would enhance culture and arts in the city. 

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said the boost in tourism from the new expansion will be a “shot in the arm for downtown” by increasing foot traffic at local businesses, hotels and restaurants. 

“This showcases the health of the city,” Mitchell said to a crowd of about 75 people gathered outside of the museum’s current entrance. “If the city were falling apart, this wouldn’t be happening. Cities aren’t strong if institutions aren’t strong.”

Tourism generated from the expansion is a “two-way road,” McMullen said. New Bedford will bring more exhibitions in and also send out the museum’s own exhibitions, which will increase revenue for the museum.

“It is all interconnected, and it is all by design,” McMullen said. 

The museum is also planning to hire more people for the expansion, including a security team for the traveling exhibition space, as well as “visitor-experience” and curatorial team members. 

Jennifer Smith, superintendent of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, said the expansion will elevate downtown New Bedford and the region. The park collaborates with the museum for educational purposes and conferences, Smith said. 

A New Bedford resident, Smith said she is excited to bring her grandchildren to the museum. She pointed out two groups of high school students who entered the museum and park during the ceremony as demonstration of the collaboration between the park and the museum.

“I literally have goosebumps right now,” Smith said. “I could not have envisioned that this is what my New Bedford would look like in 2025.” 

In the works

Plans for the museum’s expansion have been in the works since summer 2021, when Tony Sapienza, former chair of the museum’s Board of Trustees, alerted McMullen that the old Hiller Printing building at 11 William St. was potentially for sale. The Old Dartmouth Historical Society — which conducted business as the New Bedford Whaling Museum — bought the building shortly after in October 2021 for $1.5 million. Donations of $1.1 million, generated from 19 donors within three weeks, made the sale possible. 

Since then, the museum has managed to raise about $25.5 million, including $3 million from the city through the American Rescue Plan Act grants. The project is expected to have wide-spread benefits across the city and elevate the museum’s stature, Mitchell said. 

“We wanted to make sure that our investment leverages other investments,” Mitchell said. “We’re putting $3 million in and it’ll ultimately leverage over $30 million more.”

Mitchell cast the expansion as part of a wider effort to hold buildings in the city to high design standards.

The city recently “resusitated” the Star Store, which Mitchell credited as another example of the city’s efforts to strengthen the economic and design dimensions of the city. 

“When you design something well, you’re giving a gift to the future, and you’re also making the place stronger and more distinct,” Mitchell said. 

Wick Simmons, capital campaign co-chair, said the efforts are raising money not only for the Whaling Museum but for New Bedford, putting the city on the map in “a way we’d like to be on the map.”

About 85% of the $25.5 million raised so far has come from private individuals. The Massachusetts Cultural Council also provided a grant.  

The museum’s campaign goal is $31.5 million, according to McMullen.

“The largest up-to-date exhibition space in New England south of Boston”

The museum’s entire expansion spans about 20,000 new square feet. The new building, designed by Machado Silvetti architects from Boston, will include a new ground floor and a second-floor exhibition space. 

The most notable aspect includes a 6,000-square-foot custom-designed exhibition space specifically made for traveling exhibits. Although the museum currently covers about 35,000 square feet, its current gallery space — about 2,200 square feet — is limited and lacks the infrastructure needed for large traveling exhibitions. Most institutions that curate traveling shows prefer a 5,000-square-foot space, McMullen said in The Light’s previous article. 

McMullen said the first exhibition will be an environmental piece featuring profiles of many artists, the most notable being William Bradford. The museum’s first traveling exhibition will hail from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. — the world’s largest museum. 

The museum believes this newest addition will be the “largest up-to-date exhibition space in New England south of Boston,” according to The Light’s previous story. 

Other additions include the new ground floor and a wider crosswalk connecting the existing museum complex with the new building. The ground floor will entail a street level floor, new welcome area, an increase in retail, a glass-enclosed community living room and a cafe.

The redesigned plaza and accessible pedestrian walkway aims to connect the new space with the current space. All parking will be removed on William Street to give the area a “city square feel,” McMullen said, with added greenery and an outdoor atmosphere for gathering. 

“The whole plaza will be really sort of reinvigorated here,” she said.

The museum also hopes to display one of its most significant pieces, the “Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World” — a scroll, 8½ feet tall by 1,275 feet long, painted by New Bedford artists Benjamin Russell and Calbe Purrington in 1848. 

The scroll increased museum attendance by one-third the last time all four of its rolls were fully displayed on the top floor of Kilburn Mill in 2018, according to the museum’s Open Doors Case Statement from November 2024. McMullen said this resulted in a 30,000 person visitation increase.

Once the expansion is complete, the panorama will join rotating shows in New Bedford while continuing to travel around the country.

Crystal Yormick, a journalism student at Boston University, is a summer intern at The New Bedford Light. She can be reached at cyormick@newbedfordlight.org.