The Masterworks Foundation is now entering the final phase of its efforts to raise funds for the building of its Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art at the former Arrowroot Factory in the Botanical Gardens.

To date, $7 million has been pledged toward the $9 million target. This sum will allow the Foundation to include a generator ? "a necessity in this era of power-outage situations" ? a state-of-the-art storage facility which will add an additional 7000 running feet of hanging space in the storage area; a conservation area with equipment provided for an in-house conservator; and a purpose-built classroom with storage to continue its art initiatives.

The transformation of the Arrowroot Factory and Fern Garden has been internally dramatic, but a spokesperson for the Foundation says that, upon completion, the museum will fit comfortably into the surrounding Botanical Gardens, "and indeed enhance the experience of visiting the Paget landmark".

The capital campaign committee is comprised of Foundation directors who have been working closely to implement fund-raising, strategies, oversee the construction progress, and plan the budgets and other financial considerations.

To date, 80 percent of the funding has come from individual donors, which the Foundation believes "is indicative of the fact that this will truly be a people's museum".

"We hope to raise the remaining $2 million in the next year, and be able to open the museum on schedule in the autumn of 2007," the spokesperson said.