By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — The public will get a glimpse of plans to restore part of the American Museum of Natural History Wednesday night.
Community Board 7's preservation committee will host a presentation by museum officials on the restoration of AMNH's Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall.
The renovation, which still must be approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, would add new handrails and lighting and make the museum's first-floor doors more accessible to wheelchair users, said museum spokeswoman Anne Canty.
"Many of the museum's buildings are old and they pre-date modern infrastructure," Canty said.
The renovation could also include making the hanging banners that advertise exhibits more compatible with the museum's historic architecture, Canty said.
The cornerstone for the museum’s first building at West 77th Street and Columbus Avenue was laid by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1874; the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall and Rotunda opened in 1936, according to the museum's website.
A five-story high cast of a Barosaurus dinosaur, "the world's highest freestanding dinosaur display," has loomed over the Roosevelt rotunda since 1991.
Restoration work on murals in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall began last year, the New York Times reported.
Community Board 7's Preservation Committee meets at 6:30 p.m. at 250 W. 87th Street. Read the agenda at Community Board 7's website.
