Aspen Art Museum

* What: The museum has selected Shigeru Ban Architects to design a new building, and has raised $28 million of a $35 million goal.

* Now the museum has to . . . Secure its site.

* The scene: Aspen City Council will vote on that this fall, but since Aspen Art Museum director and chief curator Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson was on the advisory group that developed the sweeping Civic Master Plan, approval seems natural.

The site in question is the Zupancis-Galena parcel in the heart of Aspen at East Main Street and South Galena, and the new development also will house several city facilities.

The new 30,000-square-foot museum is pegged to cost $20 million, with another $15 million earmarked for endowment, so the fundraising (all private) is well on its way.

The current museum is 7,000 square feet in a historic power plant outside downtown.

Zuckerman Jacobson says the selection committee chose Ban (from a field of five finalists) because of "his sensitivity to art and nature, and his innovative approaches to environmentally sensitive buildings."

* The other four names: Thom Mayne (a finalist for the Denver Art Museum expansion); Diller Scofidio + Renfro (a finalist for the Clyfford Still Museum project); Enrique Norten (of TEN Arquitectos, a finalist for the new MCA/Denver building); and Zurich-based Gigon/Guyer Architekten.

* Information: 970-925-8050; aspenartmuseum.org