Albany Museum of Art relocating to downtown

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The Albany Museum of Art (AMA) will officially be relocating soon.

The announcement came during an AMA event Thursday night.

The AMA will be relocating to the old Belk building on West Broad Avenue in downtown Albany.

According to a release, The Robert N. Brooks Sr. family donated the properties at 128 and 146 W. Broad Avenue, doubling the amount of space the museum currently has.

The AMA has been working since the January 2017 storms on possibly relocating downtown.

Museum officials said crews will tear down the old dance studio at West Broad and North Washington Street.

The executive director of the museum and the city manager said this is a great next step in developing downtown.

“Having that beautiful new space right on that key corner, I think will draw people and draw foot traffic,” said Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan.

“We really don’t get any foot traffic here on Meadowlark Drive. This is a destination, you’re not coming here unless you’re coming to the museum, but they’ll see us now,” said Executive Director Paula Williams.

It was also announced that Williams will be retiring from her position after over 10 years.

The museum plans to honor her in the new building.

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