The next few months will determine whether the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden can follow through on plans for a balloon-like structure to inflate over the doughnut-shaped building’s center, Washington City Paper writes in an examination of the project.

The Seasonal Inflatable Structure, informally known as the Bubble, was announced in late 2009 with a $5-million budget and a construction target of 2011. The projected cost has more than doubled, and Richard Koshalek, director of the Smithsonian-affiliated contemporary-art museum, has set a springtime fundraising deadline to make a decision on proceeding.

The newspaper’s article details the project’s difficulties and other ways in which Mr. Koshalek, whose career in major museum management is dotted with splashy architectural projects, has brought his sensibility to bear on the Hirshhorn’s concentric concrete structure.