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The Vancouver Art Gallery has a big problem: It's too small. Plans to rebuild and relocate come just in time

One of the important works in the Vancouver Art Gallery's permanent collection is a three-metre-high 1967 painting by the acclaimed U.S. artist Frank Stella. Darabjerd II was purchased at auction in 1968 - an exciting acquisition for the gallery. But since the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) took up residence in the old provincial courthouse on Robson Street 25 years ago, Darabjerd II has remained in the basement vault.

"That's disappointing," says the gallery's director Kathleen Bartels. "We should be showing those works on a more regular basis."

Darabjerd II is keeping good company. VAG has thousands of works in storage. A patron hoping to see works by contemporary photography superstar Jeff Wall, his colleague Stan Douglas or British Columbia artist Brian Jungen would walk away disappointed. (Jungen's contemporary takes on first-nations art have wowed the world: A mask of his fetched more than $163,500, including buyer's premium, at auction this week.) Of the Wall, Douglas and Jungen works owned by VAG, there isn't a single one on public display.

The gallery has a huge problem: It's too small. But earlier this week it formally requested a parcel of city-owned land so it can build a brand new, much larger facility. The plan is to double the overall size of the current gallery to about 320,000 square feet, while the exhibition space would grow to about 105,000 square feet from its current 54,000 square feet.

The land the gallery wants is a parking lot at Cambie and West Georgia Streets, about one kilometre away from the current Robson Street site. The lot sits next to the city-owned Queen Elizabeth Theatre and will become a live-event stage during the 2010 Olympics.

When the VAG began its search for a new space two years ago, it started off with 12 potential sites. But with real-estate development in Vancouver booming and prices at sky-high levels, the choices were quickly narrowed down.

"If we had our druthers we would like to stay here and see if we could expand our present site," says Michael Audain, the Vancouver philanthropist who chairs the VAG board's relocation committee. "But from a functional aspect, it's important that we do move into a new building."

The land at Cambie and West Georgia was a front-runner from the beginning and has emerged as the one "ideal" spot for the gallery. It's central, across the street from a SkyTrain station, and the fact that it's owned by the city, and not a private developer, means the price may be affordable.

The gallery says the city is "fully aware" of its desire to move there.

If the city grants its approval to the gallery, VAG will launch an international competition for an architect. Bartels has stars in her eyes about this; she wants an iconic building that will become the face of the city. The timeline would see shovels in the ground in May, 2010, just months after the Olympics wrap up, with the building scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. The costs associated with the new facility are expected to be in the "hundreds of millions" says Bartels. Government and private money will be targeted.

The price tag is high, but the move is unavoidable. The gallery has clearly outgrown its home. In September, lineups backed up onto the street as people tried to catch the final days of the blockbuster Monet to Dali show - not exactly enticing in a city that has its fair share of rainfall.

Inside, visitor circulation is difficult in the four-floor-with-rotunda configuration, installing exhibitions is challenging, there is no place to host lectures or school groups, and nowhere to hold private functions, which can be lucrative money-makers.

With a mere 3 per cent of the gallery's permanent collection on display at any given time, it makes going after donations from collectors and sponsors tricky at best. "As someone who talks to potential art donors from time to time," says Audain. "I often get the comment that 'Well, if I'm going to give something to the Vancouver Art Gallery it's just going to end up in hold and won't be seeing the light of day for many years.' So that's definitely a concern."

The new facility would have lots of room for new - and old - acquisitions.

"That's what's going to live on beyond all of us," Bartels says. "And that should be shown, it should be valued, it should grow and increase and it's something that we cherish."