If you’re looking to visit the National Museum of Women in the Arts, time is of the essence.

Starting on Aug. 9, the museum’s New York Avenue building in downtown D.C. will close to undergo a massive, two-year-long renovation project — the museum’s first large-scale make-over since it opened more than three decades ago.

The $66 million project will expand gallery spaces; improve accessibility in line with the Americans With Disabilities Act; and create a new Learning Commons, complete with an upgraded library, research center, and reading room. Other improvements include adding more wireless and touchscreen technology, restoring the roof and exterior of the building, and installing new lighting and climate control systems. Construction is set to begin on Sept. 1.

“Thirty years is a long time,” says the museum’s director, Susan Fisher Sterling. “Even though we’ve replaced certain things and upgraded others, it was time for that total makeover… It’s that kind of renovation where the bones stay, the guts of the building need work, and then you come out almost like a butterfly afterwards… or maybe like a cicada.”

The renovation process actually began six years ago, when the century-old building underwent an assessment, and the museum began scoping out plans for engineering, building code, and other upgrades. Shortly after the museum settled on the architectural firm Sandra Vicchio & Associates to lead the project, a 2015 snowstorm damaged part of the building and revealed structural issues — affirming that the building, erected in 1908, was due for a face-lift.

“It was almost nothing short of a miracle, frankly,” Sterling says. “There was this need for the renovation project, and that [storm damage] was a really an untoward but a good example of why the project is so necessary.”

Funding for the renovation comes partially from the museum’s capital fundraising campaign, which brought in over $50 million in the course of two years. Grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Events DC, D.C’s semi-public sports and entertainment authority, are also being used to finance the project, which was originally supposed to begin earlier this year.

But like many things, the pandemic complicated things a bit.

According to Sterling, the museum originally planned on closing in January but held off until the construction market settled a bit. Now, Sterling says, the decision to delay renovations has worked to the museum’s benefit, allowing them to raise more money for the project and experiment with digital offerings, which will continue while the museum closes.

“It’s this interesting combination of the pandemic shutting so many things down in terms of physical space, and also opening things up in terms of virtual space,” Sterling says. “The fact that we were able to experiment as much as we did digitally during the pandemic has really allowed us to think seriously [about] how we can outreach to audiences in ways that, now, they’re more accustomed to.”

Once completed, the museum will have dedicated classroom space, a greater capacity to host hands-on workshops, and a focus on community gatherings in the new Learning Commons. In the meantime, NMWA has a slate of virtual and IRL events, and will continue its free-admission community days until shuttering in August. (The museum reopened on March 3). In addition to virtual programming during the closure, the museum is also exploring options for off-site activities.

“[The museum] will still be open for business,” Sterling says. “Even though the building itself will be under renovation.”