Erie Art Museum is Expanding - for $9 Million

So the Erie Art Museum, only a couple hours away, is expanding. Now just to put things into perspective, Erie, PA has roughly a 15% cheaper cost of living than in Pittsburgh, and a 106% difference than Los Angeles. That's why $9Mil seems like a lot to spend on expanding on their existing building. Hopefully they are making the right decision in these tough economic times. Maybe that's why they're doing it now?

From the PressReleases site:

The Erie Art Museum is having a free all-day public celebration to officially kick off the construction of the Erie Art Museum’s $9 million expansion and renovation on May 8, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the Erie Art Museum Annex parking lot at 20 East 5th Street. Additional public events include free admission to the Erie Art Museum from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. & again from 7-9 p.m. for the Museum’s Last Bash in the Annex. Erie band the Heliotropes will entertain, visitors will make their mark on construction fencing and sheetrock, and visitors will get the first glimpse at the bright ideas of area inventors in the InnovationErie: Design Competition exhibit.

What do you think about their spending? Good? Bad? Don't care? Why not? Post below.