How will admission fees change the IMA experience?

A new $18 admission fee isn't the only thing that is changing about the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

The new fee — which aims to reduce the museum's draw from its endowment — is part of a larger campus plan that Director and CEO Charles Venable hopes will pave the way for a different kind of visitor experience.

A $750,000 construction project underway will add, among other things, new sidewalks, a new tram and a new wall for the 26-acre Oldfields–Lilly House & Gardens. Here's everything you need to know about the IMA's new plans:

The $18 admission policy begins April 7.

The museum will cost $18 for adults and $10 for children ages 6 to 17, which pays for parking and entrance to special exhibits. April 5 is the last day to go free.

Annual membership prices will remain at $55 for individuals and $75 for families — that's essentially how much it costs to visit the museum three times a year.

With the exception of a brief stint with a $7 fee in 2006 and 2007, IMA has been free since 1941.

The first Free Thursday is on May 7, taking place from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The $18 applies to the botanical gardens, too.

Construction crews have been at work adding a wall that prevents entrance to the botanical gardens from the front mall, guiding visitors to the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion instead.

With the new one-entry policy, Venable said the museum will be adding an additional greeter, as well as making the lobby a one-stop guide to the IMA through new and better signs, maps and handouts.

Venable hopes the one-entry policy can help the museum learn more about visitor behavior.

"It's a way of us being able to educate our visitors and welcome them to the museum and find out more about what they want the museum and gardens to do for them," he said.

IMA wants to make the gardens better.

About 60 percent of visitors to the IMA have never heard of the Oldfields–Lilly House & Gardens, the greenhouse or the greenhouse shop, Venable said. By the time "Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas" opens in May, the IMA will have installed bright-green designs reminding visitors that, yes, this verdant 26-acre estate exists.

Tom Hiatt, chairman of the board of governors of the IMA, said the museum "hasn't invested as much into the garden as we want," so expect more plans for the garden soon. Better plantings, outdoor installations and other improvements are on the horizon, he said.

By April, there will be a new tram that takes visitors from the museum to the Lilly House and the Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse and Shop.

Another change: No more cars driving around in the gardens. The roads will become pedestrian only.

The museum is still part of the Access Pass program.

Families who qualify under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamp or Hoosier Healthwise Insurance programs can visit local attractions such as the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art for $1. Since October Access Pass members could see IMA special exhibits for $1 — now that's the cost to see the entire museum.

One of the criticisms the IMA has faced after announcing the $18 admission fee is that it will cut off access to lower-income visitors. Lydia Smyth, a student junior at Indiana University Bloomington, believes she is one of those people. She started a petition protesting the new fee that has garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

"Those without the money for a membership or admissions cost are effectively cut off from the IMA and the art it has to offer," she said. "High schoolers who visited like I did for years won't be able to afford the trip. The museum is one of the last places that can expose the next generation to art."

Hiatt said the decision to add an admission fee was thoroughly researched. The fee, he said, is unavoidable if the museum wants to stay on stable financial ground.

"The problem is a lot like public radio," he said. "People think it's a good idea, but they don't support it financially."

Pro tip: There's a way to slip into the museum.

The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the 100-acre park owned by the IMA, will still be free. So if you park at the entrance on 38th Street and walk up the Central Canal Townpath to the Waller Bridge, you can get into the museum free. But the museum will be monitoring visitor behavior at the bridge, Hiatt said, so this may not remain an option forever.

Wei-Huan Chen can be reached at wei-huan.chen@indystar.com or on Twitter at @weihuanchen.