Arizona Museum of Natural History presents options: $84M renovation or $170M new building to expand exhibits and revenue

Leaders of the Arizona Museum of Natural History and a museum design consultant presented a two‑path plan Thursday for the museum: a substantial renovation estimated at about $84 million or a new, larger building estimated at about $170 million.

Simon Tiffany Adams, the museum director, said the facility’s current footprint and configuration limit the museum’s ability to serve Mesa residents and attract tourists. Consultant Spencer (Spence) Downey of Gallagher Design and Associates summarized a benchmarking study of 32 natural history and science museums and concluded Arizona’s museum underperforms peers in visitation and earned revenue because it lacks typical visitor amenities such as a permanent café, private‑event spaces and up‑charge experiences.

The consultant said the museum currently allocates roughly 60% of its building to exhibit space, leaving too little room for visitor amenities and back‑of‑house collections, research…