The Folger Shakespeare Library announced Wednesday that it is adjusting its reopening date. Following four years of renovations that began in March 2020, the Folger will now open at an unspecified date in 2024. The historic Capitol Hill building was originally slated to reopen to the public on November 17, 2023. (City Paper Arts Editor Sarah Marloff will now have to find a different way to celebrate her birthday!)
Representatives from the Folger, home to the world’s largest William Shakespeare collection, say the decision to push back the reopening date allows them to thoroughly complete the complex and large-scale renovation and achieve project goals. A new reopening date will be announced before the end of the year.
“A project of this complexity and lasting impact requires attention at every stage of the work, and this work simply requires more time,” Folger Director Michael Witmore says in a press release. “We know that in pushing forward the reopening, we are setting the Folger up for success in the years ahead.”
Integrating the original, nearly 100-year-old building into today’s construction regulations and new systems is an undertaking that requires careful configuration, testing, and recalibration, the press release explains.
The library specifically mentioned factors such as temperature and humidity controls that must be tested and verified consistently over set periods of time before collection materials can be returned to the building. Features such as a new Shakespeare exhibition, set to be installed in the renovated space, require this attention to detail. This exhibition will display the Folger’s 82 copies of Shakespeare First Folios—published in the 17th century—together for the very first time. Their collection makes up more than a third of the remaining First Folio copies in the world.
“Pursuing a project of this scale, scope and complexity comes with the risk of timeline adjustments, which we recognized from the start and continue to believe is worth it,” says D. Jarrett Arp, Chair of the Folger’s Board of Governors, in the press release.
Arp sees the project as an investment for future generations and says, “we are confident in our path and the care with which we are navigating these final steps.”
The current renovations will prioritize the theater, with the hope of holding performances and programs at the Folger for the 2023-2024 season. Tickets are still expected to go on sale at the end of September. Additional information about tours and preview days will be available when the Folger announces its new reopening date.