A massive $130 million transformation is in full swing at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), where the popular institution's famous Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is looking more like a demolition site than an internationally recognized architectural landmark.

The famous ROM crystal  is getting its most significant update since opening its doors in 2007, part of a three-year construction project that will transform the crystal's 86,000 square feet of ground-level space and add 6,000 square feet of new gallery space to the building in the process.

Work on the project — dubbed OpenROM — kicked off shortly after the planned renovation was revealed in early 2024. 

Royal Ontario Museum

Hidden away behind construction fencing and the angled facades of the crystal, work on the upgrades has largely evaded much public attention in the months since the project was unveiled to the public.

However, that has all changed in recent weeks as construction activity bleeds beyond the confines of the ROM's crystalline exterior.

Crews are now in the process of deconstructing the lower portions of the Crystal wing to make way for major modifications to the structure's ground floor.

Most notably, the ROM is gaining a new Bloor Street entrance that will feature a ramp and a large canopy designed to create a more welcoming experience for the landmark. 

The canopy will also function to keep the plaza accessible during extreme winter events, preventing closures that have plagued the ROM forecourt area due to falling snow and ice.

Another big change coming to the exterior of the ROM is a new water feature that will wrap around the museum's heritage facade at the corner of Bloor Street and Queen's Park. 

Unlike your typical Toronto fountain that is turned off for a large portion of the year, the ROM's new fountain is planned to "evolve with the seasons," according to the project team, and will change from flowing water in warmer months to cracked ice that references frozen Canadian landscapes during winter.   

The project's changes to the crystal's ground floor are more than just cosmetic in nature, according to project architect Siamak Hariri, of Hariri Pontarini Architects.

"We're going to re-introduce ROM to Toronto with a design that, in effect, turns the Museum inside out," said Hariri during the launch of the project back in February. 

"We're going to bring daylight and views deep inside and create new connections with Bloor Street, within the ground floor public spaces and the galleries themselves." 

While it looks like a total warzone from outside, the museum is and will continue to remain open throughout the duration of the three-year project — now approaching its ten-month mark.

The OpenROM project is expected to wrap up construction in 2027 — exactly two decades after the Crystal first debuted.