New ICA won't make early Nov. opening

The ICA is still not announcing when it will open, but it's clear the museum's new building on the South Boston waterfront won't be ready until at least mid-November.

On Sept. 20, ICA project manager Michael Waters told the Boston Conservation Commission that there were hopes of opening the new museum in late October or early November. This week, ICA deputy director Paul Bessire said that the building, on Fan Pier, will not be ready to open that soon.

When asked to estimate when the $51 million project will be complete, Bessire said, ``We are looking at opening later this fall."

The new ICA was originally set to open Sept. 17. On Aug. 4, though, the ICA announced that because of construction delays, it would postpone the opening for ``weeks, not months," according to Steve Corkin, chairman of the building committee.

Expectations are high for the building, which will be the first new art museum in Boston since 1909, when the Museum of Fine Arts opened its Fenway home. The ICA, with its glass walls and cantilever stretching to the harbor, will mark a dramatic upgrade for the institution, which until recently occupied a cramped former police station on Boylston Street.

Events scheduled for October in the ICA were either moved, canceled, or postponed. On Monday, Bessire said that most November programs were still in place, though the ICA was working to find another performance space for a dance program -- Butoh duo GooSayTen -- scheduled for Nov. 8 in the new building's theater.

Museum officials say they don't want to announce an opening date without being sure they can be ready on time. There are signs, though, that the building is moving closer to completion. On Friday, city inspectors granted the ICA a temporary occupancy permit, allowing staff to enter office and gallery spaces in the building. On Monday morning, about 45 members of the ICA staff reported to the new building for the first time.

``The staff moving in is a major step for us," Bessire said. ``There's construction work going on seven days a week. Art is being installed in the galleries."

David Henry, the ICA's program director, said he has not yet canceled the Asian Film Festival screenings set for Nov. 11-12 or the Nov. 17-18 presentation by eight Boston-based choreographers in a program called ``Ten's the Limit."

``I'm not concerned because they haven't told me to be concerned," said Maure Aronson, executive director of World Music/CRASHarts, which is presenting ``Ten's the Limit." ``I'm optimistic and I'm hopeful that `Ten's the Limit' will be at the ICA."

On Monday morning, in the ICA's employee lounge, workers crowded into their first staff meeting in the new building. Managers told them where they could get lunch, park, and make photocopies. One person asked if there would be a toaster in the employee lunch room. (Sure.) Another wondered if it would be OK to use push pins to hang things on the walls. (No way.)

Raj Mitra, the ICA's information technology manager, explained that some computers were up and running, others needed to be worked on.

``What's your extension?" asked Nora Donnelly, the ICA's senior registrar, from across the room.

``My phone's not even set up yet," Mitra said, laughing. ``Call away."

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com.