Disch Brings Comprehensive Cultural Building Experience to Museum’s Historic Renovation Project

Buffalo, New YorkJanuary 21, 2020 – Gilbane Building Company today announced the appointment of Ryan Disch to its growing Buffalo office. Disch, who has a wide range of museum and institutional experience will serve as the Senior Project Manager for the historic expansion of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.

Disch, who brings more than 11 years of experience working in cultural and institutional building projects, will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision and management of the construction activities at the Albright-Knox campus development and expansion. As Senior Project Manager, he will ensure that the project is managed efficiently and that all schedule, budget, safety, programming, and quality goals are achieved.

The Albright-Knox expansion includes adding 50,000 square feet of prime exhibition space in a signature new building at the North end of its campus. The expansion will include new visitor amenities, a new education wing in the lower level of the museum’s 1962 Building, and the creation of an indoor Town Square for year-round civic engagement. It will also include the construction of a scenic bridge that connects the new north building with the museum’s neo-classical 1905 Building. The project will enhance the Albright-Knox campus with an underground parking structure, transforming the current surface parking into a green plaza.

Gilbane has multiple projects in Western New York currently ongoing in addition to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, including the Erie County Medical Center. It recently started renovations at SUNY Oswego Funnelle Hall and completed the second phase of the Northland Central project which creates a new home for Buffalo Manufacturing Works. Ryan Disch’s extensive knowledge and experience working on museum, cultural facilities and institutional building projects will be valuable to both this project and future projects in the region.

“Ryan’s cultural facilities background and level of experience make him an exciting addition to our Western New York team,” said John LaRow, Vice President for Upstate New York, Gilbane Building Company. “Ryan began his career with us in New York and it is great to see how far he has come in the industry. His experience building world-class museums and institutions will be great for our clients, the cultural renaissance of Buffalo, and the future of Western New York.”

Most recently, Mr. Disch served as project manager for South Florida’s Norton Museum of Art project, a comprehensive renovation and expansion project. The museum houses a portion of the nation’s premier collections of American, Chinese, Contemporary, European and Photographic art. The project increased gallery and exhibition space, as well as educational and program space including a new 200-seat, state-of the-art auditorium, meeting rooms, entrance space, and restaurant. The Museum remained open to the public during the project’s construction, so Mr. Disch worked closely with the museum to develop a collaborative communication plan to minimize impacts to the museum’s operations.

Mr. Disch received a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. He began his construction career at Gilbane Building Company in 2004 and has since worked on projects that include the Brooklyn Museum and the Montclair State University Cali School of Music. He lives in Buffalo with his wife and daughter.

Having completed more than 50 museum facilities projects – 30 of which took place in the last 10 years alone – Gilbane offers extensive experience with the construction of state-of-the-art cultural facilities throughout the country.

About Gilbane Building Company

Gilbane provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services – from pre-construction planning and integrated consulting capabilities to comprehensive construction management, general contracting, design-build and facility management services – for clients across various markets. Founded in 1870 and still a privately held, family-owned company, Gilbane has more than 45 office locations worldwide.

Since 1949, Gilbane has been delivering construction services in New York State for clients across various market sectors including commercial office, multi-unit and high rise residential, cultural, education, healthcare, public sector, mission critical and science and technology. For more information, visit www.gilbaneco.com.