MIAMI-After years of planning, the Miami Art Museum finally broken ground yesterday on its new campus in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park. Designed by Herzog & Meuron, the new museum is scheduled to open its doors in 2013.

Aaron Podhurst, chairman of Miami Art Museum’s board of trustees, called the groundbreaking a “giant step forward” in Miami’s emergence as “one of the world’s greatest cultural cities.” Total construction costs for the Miami Art Museum project are budgeted at $131 million. Museum Park will also be home to the new Miami Science Museum, which has not yet broken ground.

“The launch of this construction process signals that the public and private sectors are committed to enhancing Miami’s profile as a global arts destination and we are proud that Miami Art Museum factors prominently into that reputation,” Podhurst says. “Our new building will fill many roles—as a repository for our city’s greatest works, a resource for learning, an economic engine in our urban core, a gathering place for Miami residents and visitors, and as an architectural icon of our city.”