Armenian American Museum to break ground on July 11

The backers behind the long-proposed Armenian American Museum will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project on July 11 in Downtown Glendale.

Planned for more than seven years, the museum will rise at the southwest corner of Glendale Central Park.  It is imagined as a two-story, roughly 50,800-square-foot structure with a single level of basement parking.  Proposed features include a lobby, an auditorium, a learning center, administrative offices at street level, with the building's second floor dedicated to permanent and temporary exhibition galleries.

Alajajian Marcoosi Architects is designing the museum, which will have striking exterior modeled on rock formations seen in the Armenian Highlands.

The museum recently tapped Gallagher & Associates to begin the schematic design phase of its permanent exhibition, which is expected to provide education on the Armenian Genocide, as well as interactive presentations and displays of cultural artifacts.

The location of the museum, within the footprint of Glendale Central Park, was enabled through a $1-per-year ground lease agreement with the City of Glendale, which owns the property.  The initial term of the lease is for 55 years, with four optional 10-year extensions running to a total of 95 years.

Construction will serve as a prelude to a planned $18.5-million revamp of Central Park, which will be expanded onto an adjacent site now used as a parking lot to make up for green space lost to footprint of the museum.

• Armenian American Museum (Urbanize LA)