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SAN FRANCISCO — The Asian Art Museum will postpone the opening of the new renovated museum, located at the San Francisco Civic Center, a spokeswoman announced Wednesday. 

Construction snafus have caused the museum to push its grand opening date back two months to March 20, 2003. 

“This construction project - seismic upgrade, historical renovation and adaptive re-use of an existing landmark building - is extremely complex, and our original opening date was quite optimistic,” said Emily Sano, museum director. “While construction schedules typically change ... the museum realized that the status of the building's renovation had impacted the schedule.” 

Once completed, the Asian Art Museum will encompass 40,000 square feet of gallery space, expanded educational service and state-of-the-art storage and conservation facilities.