Rodin Museum getting a makeover alongside Barnes building

Cement trucks, piles of soil, pipes and leafless shrubs are piled high behind construction gates and strategically placed signs that announce the new home of the Barnes Foundation on Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 21st Street.

While the museum's move from Merion to Philadelphia has been highly publicized, fewer people know about a similar project taking place right next door, at the Rodin Museum.

The Rodin Museum houses some of French sculptor Auguste Rodin's greatest works, and has been open on the Parkway since 1929. But more than 80 years of rust and grime prompted a major renovation project in June 2009.

Since then, the museum has undergone major renovations, some of which are still in progress.

Norman Keyes, spokesman for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which manages the Rodin Museum, said the project is on schedule for spring completion.

"The Meudon Gate [the stone entrance to the museum] and surrounding staircase was sensitively restored to great acclaim early last summer, and we expect construction will be substantially complete by the end of the calendar year," Keyes said.

Restoration of the building's roof and the addition of new paving, lighting, shrubs and pathways are scheduled to be completed next year as part of the larger, $19 million makeover of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Exterior cleaning of the building and landscaping in the courtyard won't begin until the spring because of the weather. The partial delay may allow the project directors more time to find much-needed funding for a portion of the project.

The project was primarily paid for by a grant to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which included contributions from the state and city, and donations from three foundations: the Pew Charitable Trusts, the William Penn Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

According to Keyes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art also committed $2 million to restore the interior garden of the Rodin, but is still seeking contributions from private donors to match that.

The museum has remained open during the course of the project and, despite the off-putting construction scenery outside the building, Keyes said that visits have remained steady. He wasn't able to provide data, however.

On Tuesday afternoon, there were no visitors inside. A few tourists stopped outside to pose next to one of Rodin's most famous sculptures, "The Thinker."

Keyes said that having the Barnes museum - which is scheduled for completion next year - as a neighbor will greatly benefit the Rodin.

"We think it certainly will attract more visitors, and certainly will also draw enormous interest in the Parkway locally, nationally and internationally," Keyes said.