The Cleveland Museum of Art’s $38 million annual budget and the nearly 400 employees who manage the paintings, sculptures and artifacts add about $60 million a year to the local economy. But the museum’s director, David Franklin, says a bigger boost comes from arts patrons.

Franklin:  “Over 300,000 people visited the museum last year, more than a third of them from out of state. And by 2014 we hope to see those numbers double if not more. Even if they came for the art, and we hope they did, they stay in Cleveland, they contributed over $80 million in local sales, $25 million in local income while supporting 700 jobs.”

Franklin says the total economic impact will be $140 million at the end of this fiscal year. And the museum is wrapping up a $350 million expansion and renovation, more than 80 percent of which is privately funded.  Construction is underway on a massive atrium that will be the starting place for visitors. Director Franklin expects work to be completed later this year.

Franklin:  “We’ll be open, hopefully by the end of summer, everything’s running on schedule and we’ll have a public opening by the end of October. So it’s the next major milestone for the museum and a really crucial space. It’ll be our central orientation space. Visitors will generally come here first and figure out which galleries they want to go into. We’ll have our amenities museum store and out restaurant also accessible as well as an incredible learning center to orientate visitors as they come to the museum.”

The renovation and expansion project started in 2005. The final phase is the museum’s new west wing which will house its Asian arts collection.  That is expected to open by the end of next year. Joe Roman is C.E.O. of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region’s economic development organization. He says the art museum’s prestige, coupled with its local financial support helps attract investment to the region.

Roman:  “And that, I think, is the doubling down effect of an institution like the art museum that cannot be replicated. Even in our own personal work of trying to maintain assets in our community, like our hub at Hopkin’s Airport, being able to talk to people about reinvestments that places like this is making makes that sales job so much easier.”