Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Gets $195 Million Rebirth

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is undergoing a $195 million renovation and expansion — the largest since the museum opened in 1995 — with completion estimated for early 2028.

The nine-year project will add a new entry plaza serving the museum's half million annual visitors, a new performance space and exhibition gallery, and new community meeting and educational spaces. The redesign also expands the institution outdoors, and features a 40-foot-tall wall of glass, as John Hanc reported for The New York Times from Cleveland.

The museum has not closed during the work. The article forms part of the Times' Fine Arts & Exhibits special section examining how museums are pushing boundaries.

What does the expansion look like on the ground?

Construction was visibly underway in late September, even as the museum hosted one of its biggest fan events of the season. More than 5,430 people attended "Rush the Rock Hall," a two-day gathering for devotees of the Canadian supergroup Rush, despite chilly rain.

Behind a temporary wall on the main level, a warren of ladders, planks and lifters hummed with activity on a Saturday, while a worker in boots and a white hard hat threaded through the crowd toward the check-in area and vanished into the construction zone.

The Rush fans came to see what was billed as "newly displayed artifacts" from the band, performance videos spanning various periods of the group's career, and band merchandise. Many wore their own tribute T-shirts from tours reaching back to 1978, alongside shirts from the group's current circuit — a 58-show, 24-city run titled "The Fifty Something Tour."

The tour name suited the crowd, where gray hair and beards flowed in abundance.

What changes for visitors?

The expansion signals the Rock Hall's push beyond its glass-walled interior into outdoor public space, aiming to serve both pilgrims and the broader Cleveland community through performance and educational programming.

The project's scale — $195 million over nine years — places it among the most significant museum reinvestments in the American Midwest, and its 2028 completion date gives the institution a fixed horizon for a full physical reinvention while keeping its doors open throughout.