The Franklin Institute received a $10 million grant to build a new addition, the state’s most-visited museum announced today.
The money comes from Nicholas and Athena Karabots of the Karabots Foundation, which supports programs benefiting young people in violence-prone neighborhoods.
The 53,000 square-foot addition, to be named the Nicholas and Athena Karabots Pavilion, will allow the Institute to expand its education programs with 10,000 square feet of additional classroom space and also features 8,000 square feet of gallery space adjacent to the existing traveling exhibit gallery.
The Institute will break ground on the pavilion in the spring of 2012 in the hopes of opening in the summer 2014.
The gift is the largest individual contribution in the museum’s history and brings its Inspire Science! fundraising campaign total to $58 million, out of a goal of $64.7 million.
