The art museum of Springfield's future will be a multi-story structure with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that will act as a community hub and a link between destinations.

Art Museum Director Nick Nelson presented the vision of a dramatic transformation into an "incredible, world-class art museum" to City Council on Tuesday.

The nearby stream will be freed from the confines of its concrete box and allowed to meander across museum grounds in a "naturalized" state, with wildflowers and grasses growing along its banks.

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A walking and biking trail will connect the museum and adjacent Phelps Grove Park to the Water Wise garden to the south and to Fassnight Park to the west.

For the better part of a year, Nelson said, architecture firm BNIM has been working with the museum to develop a master plan for the building and surrounding area. BNIM, which has offices in Kansas City, Des Moines and San Diego, has done work for the Nelson-Atkins Museum and Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts.

Nelson said the planned transformation is expected to cost $17 million, if it's completed all at once. The museum board is looking at dividing construction into three phases, which would up the total cost to about $20 million.

It's free to enter the art museum, and they plan to keep it that way, according to Nelson.

The Springfield Art Museum is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. The founder, Deborah Weisel, had a "vision of an organization that would awaken the civic consciousness of our community," according to Nelson.

"We're trying to carry this vision forward and into the community" with a greater impact for the next 90 years, he said.

Outdoors

As the museum geared up to update its master plan, it interviewed community members and focus groups, Nelson said. It found that some themes repeatedly came up: collaboration, nature, sustainability and inclusion, to name a few.

People said they wanted the museum to be more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, to have co-working spaces, to offer artist studios and to be eye-catching, according to Nelson.

The plan took a look at the entire museum building and its outdoor amenities — a park, gardens, tennis courts and the LINK bike route, he said.

"The ingredients have all been here; they just haven't been put together," Nelson said.

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The new vision incorporates the winding creek, trail connections and a landscape dotted with sculptures, as well as an "outdoor learning area."

"Naturalizing" the creek would help address the fact that the museum is currently in a floodplain as well as create an outdoor attraction, according to Nelson.

The museum also plans to put a median dotted with trees on Brookside Avenue, making it into an "entry boulevard" into the University Heights neighborhood.

A parking lot that sits between the museum and an outdoor amphitheater will be removed and replaced with a green lawn and a trail that has "overlook piers" that extend to the banks of a creek.

Parking spaces will be constructed along Bennett Street, west of the building and connecting with parking for Phelps Grove Park. Additional parking spaces will be available south of the tennis courts and next to the Water Wise Garden.

Building will be renovated to feature more classroom, event space

The new museum will feature a dramatic roof line that pays homage to the current building's mid-century architecture.

The glass walls will promote the idea that "what goes on in the museum is just as exciting as something that happens outside the museum," Nelson said.

"As visitors walk past, they can see what's going on in the museum," he said.

The plan includes a major overhaul to the building's floor plan. There are a number of issues that it attempts to address, according to Nelson.

Nelson said the museum has seen an "incredible growth" in the number of visitors and events, and now needs more room to expand. The previous year, there were more than 60,500 visitors, up more than 70 percent from 2012.

The design of the building leads to several "dead ends" on the east side, hampering circulation, he said.

The educational wing, built in 1958, needs to be updated to have more communal art studios, a space for all-ages hands-on learning and the flexibility to host a variety of different activities and community events, he said.

"We want to find something that is not only 21st century, but almost 22nd century," Nelson said.

The new vision for the museum includes an area that could host both indoor and outdoor events, upgrades to the existing auditorium and improvements to the galleries.

The plan also floats the possibility of having a new area that serves food and drinks.

Funding

Nelson said a construction timeline depends on when funding is available. He said the museum is conducting some studies to look at possible funding sources.

"Overall, it's an ambitious project, but I don't think it's one that's unreachable," Nelson said.

The development of the master plan was funded with a $250,000 donation, to be paid over five years, by an anonymous donor.

Council members lavished praise upon the museum's new plan on Tuesday.

"Springfield has many best kept secrets, and the art museum is one of them," said Mayor Ken McClure. He noted that the future vision fits well with council's goal of making the city attractive to new businesses and young professionals.

Councilman Tom Prater also voiced his approval.

"If we're going to do something, let's think big and be transformational," Prater said.

Councilwoman Jan Fisk called the plans for the museum "so exciting."

"We've been so stagnant for so many years," she said.

She said with Wonders of Wildlife, the History Museum on the Square under construction in downtown and the new and improved art museum, Springfield will be able to attract more visitors.