The Cleveland Museum’s director, David Franklin, has resigned for personal reasons just as the museum is finishing an 8-year $350m expansion that still has $97m to go in capital raising:

He said in a prepared statement that he’s is proud of the museum’s accomplishments during his tenure, but has “concluded that it’s time to spend more time on research and writing.”

Franklin has agreed to act as a consultant to the museum during a transition period in which museum Trustee and donor Fred Bidwell, co-founder of Cleveland’s Transformer Station gallery, will act as interim director.

Museum Board Chairman R. Steven Kestner said he was surprised by Franklin’s resignation.

“Nobody can imagine what they’d do in this situation,” he said. “This is not something anybody plans for.”

He declined to elaborate on the reasons for Franklin’s departure.

“He resigned for personal reasons,” Kestner said. “I really can’t say more than that.”

Cleveland Museum of Art Director David Franklin resigns for personal reasons, effective immediately (Cleveland Plain Dealer)