The Menil Collection, bracing for an upgrade project that will close the doors of its main museum for most of this year, has planned a going-away-for-now party set for Feb. 22.

"Night at the Menil" will give visitors a few extra hours to see the big "Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma" exhibition. With music by Keyun and the Zydeco Masters on the front lawn and food trucks on the street, the free, festive event will also allow visitors to view the permanent collections before the building is temporarily shuttered at the end of the day Feb. 25. Most Popular

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WHY THE MENIL MUST CLOSE: It's all about the floors.

Hoping to keep people coming to the 14-acre campus' other buildings throughout the spring and summer, the organization has scheduled a robust mix of performances that include dance, music and lectures for the Cy Twombly Gallery (also designed by Renzo Piano), Richmond Hall (which holds a Dan Flavin light installation) and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel (where Francis Alys' "Fabiola Project" is on view). The Rothko Chapel, run by a separate organization on the campus, also will remain open. Translator

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Among the highlights:

March 6 - Dickie Landry, a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, performs at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel. March 25 - Six Houston Ballet dancers and a live chamber group perform works by Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns and John Cage at Richmond Hall. March 27 - Author William Middleton reads from his long-awaited (and very dense) biography of the de Menils, "Double Vision: The Unerring Eye of Art World Avatars Dominique and John de Menil" at the Rothko Chapel. April 15 - Gideon Alorwoyie and the University of North Texas African Percussion Ensemble perform African music and dance on the Menil lawn.

When director Rebecca Rabinow announced the closure last year, she and others were expecting that the new Menil Drawing Institute would be hosting exhibitions by now. But an October opening was scuttled, and Rabinow said she doesn't want to commit to a new opening date until she's positive the building is ready.

She attributed the delays to "ordinary, expected building constraints." Aluminum cladding panels for the roof canopies are still to come, she said, along with handrails and glass details inside the building.

"Everything is custom. That is a challenge, because there are lead times on things. We're just one step before the punch list," she said."We're in it for the long haul. We don't need to rush it for an artificial deadline we've set for ourselves."

Perhaps as a result of that lesson, Rabinow also is reluctant to announce a re-opening date for the main building -- although she expects it will be this fall.

The closure is necessary because that building's Loblolly pine floors are being refinished. Those floors also contain part of the fire detection system, which is being updated; and since all the non-loadbearing walls must come out for that project, those walls will also be rebuilt. The building's interior and exterior lighting also is being enhanced.

During the museum's recent gala, Rabinow said the project involves every aspect of the building, detailed even to the redesign of new wall labels that will be easier to read, and printed in the exact "Menil gray" as the walls.

"It's going to feel exactly the same to 99 percent of our visitors, but we are changing how we do our labels, where the walls are, what walls are installed," she said. "It's really exciting, but a huge amount of work.

"This is our chance to rock this building and make it the best."

The Drawing Institute, landscaping and repairs were financed by a capital campaign that concluded in December, raising more than $121 million - $6 million over its goal.