$100 million OK’d for Tate Modern

The British government has pledged $100 million to expand the Tate Modern, the 7-year-old institution that claims to be the world’s most popular gallery of modern art.

Designed for 1.8 million visitors a year, the Tate Modern currently draws 5 million a year.

The project, expected to cost $445 million by completion in 2012, will add 60% more floor exhibition space to the former power generation plant and is envisioned as the heart of development on the south side of the Thames, opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral.