Guadalajara’s Guggenheim Museum won’t see the light of day until 2012 at the earliest.

An artist’s impression of how the Guggenheim Museum will tower over the Huentitan Canyon.

The resignation of Guggenheim Foundation President Thomas Krens, who brokered the Guadalajara franchise, cast a cloud over the future of the project but promoters here say it’s still on track.

Jalisco Tourism Secretary Aurelio Lopez Rocha, who also happens to be the mastermind and prime mover behind the project, traveled to New York last week to lobby for the continuance of the project.

“We went to confirm that the (state) government is committed to spearheading the museum, although that doesn’t mean it will be financing the entire project.” Lopez Rocha told reporters.

Lopez Rocha said he expects the museum to be built with funding from both the private sector and state and federal governments. The cost of the museum on the northern perimeter of Guadalajara overlooking the Huentitan Canyon could top 350 million dollars or more.

Fernando Fernandez, director of the non-profit association promoting the Guadalajara Guggenheim, said it would be impossible for the museum to be ready by 2011 and that “in the best of cases” it could be finished by 2012, but is more likely to be completed by 2017. He reminded journalists that the New York Guggenheim took 17 years to come to fruition.

Fernandez admitted changes within the foundation could leads to amendments to the two-million-dollar feasibility study carried out in 2004 and 2005. There could also be changes to Mexican architect Enrique Norton’s high-rise design perched on the edge of the Huentitan canyon, he added.