The Heinz History Center is set to get bigger after the Pittsburgh Planning Commission on Tuesday approved an expansion plan.

"People will have to pardon our dust, but expand we must," Heinz History Center president Andy Masich said.

The plan is to convert a space of buildings along Penn Avenue, currently being demolished, into a new six-story wing.

"The expansion will add another 92,000 square feet," Masich said.

There will be a ground-floor plaza among the additions.

"[It will include] Pittsburgh's official welcome center," Masich said. "A new café, classrooms, new gallery spaces and a 150-seat auditorium."

A fourth-floor terrace will also be added.

"The addition will allow us to do some outdoor activities as well," Masich said.

It's the first major expansion here since 2004.

"That was shortly after we affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution," Masich said.

Masich says this expansion has been in the works for years.

"History is more important today than ever before," he said.

He says when all the work is finished, the center will be a "destination attraction."

"We think that Pittsburgh deserves a world-class museum, and that's what we're after," Masich said.

Masich didn't give KDKA-TV any specifics on how much the expansion will cost. He did say, however, that the expectation is for everything to be done by 2028.

• Pittsburgh