It looks like the expansion for Volunteer Park’s Asian Art Museum will continue as planned (at least for now). Last week, the Office of Hearing Examiner (which reviews city departments’ adherence to municipal codes) rejected an appeal by community group Protect Volunteer Park to require an environmental impact review of the project, saying the group had “sincerely held, but unsupported, lay opinion on subjects that are technical in nature.”

The expansion is a $49 million project set to break ground later this year. The plans include adding event and gallery spaces, undergoing seismic upgrades, and other renovations to the original 1933 building (the much-loved art deco façade will remain). You can read about more proposed improvements to the museum here in Jen Graves's detailed notes on a meeting that happened back in September (though some of the plans may have changed by this point).

But the real sticking point for community members who are against the Asian Art Museum's proposed expansion is the park lobby, which changes the museum’s footprint in Volunteer Park by 3,400 square feet.

A Facebook post for Protect Volunteer Park called the extension a “callous land grab.” On May 21, the group staged an action at the park where they marked the boundaries of the proposed extension to show how far into the park it would go.

“Volunteer Park is a historic landmark and city code protects a landmark from significant adverse impacts, unless they are unavoidable,” Jonathan Mark, a representative from Protect Volunteer Park, said in a statement. “We do not agree that expanding the museum's footprint into the park is unavoidable.”

Mark says that while their group supports the seismic and ADA renovations to the building, the planned expansion is in violation of Initiative 42 (the 'Protect Our Parks' initiative), which states that parkland cannot be converted to non-park use without a hearing and consideration of alternatives.

“The increase in project scope was done without public involvement, contrary to Parks Department policy. It is harmful to the naturalistic design of Volunteer Park, and an irresponsible use of Parks funds, at a time when there is a serious backlog of major Parks maintenance projects. It was also done without regard to Parks equity standards for where to site future Parks development.”

Despite the recent ruling striking down the EIS, the group says their battle is not over yet—they’ll be involved as the plan continues to move through zoning regulations and the next steps with the Landmarks Preservation Board.