Details have been finalized in the merger of DC's financially-troubled Corcoran Gallery of Art, one of the oldest museums in the U..S., with two other institutions.

A deal, pending apprval from the DC Superior Court, was signed on Thursday that combines the Corcoran Gallery of Art and its College of Art and Design will merge with George Washington University and the federally funded National Gallery of Art. T

Known for its innovative contemporary art exhibitions, and superb collections of American and modern art, the Corcoran will hand over its 17,000 artworks to the National Gallery of Art. How much of it will remain on view has yet to be determined.

The Corcoran building, a beloved Beaux-Arts strucure needing $100-million in renovations, will be preserved, but more psace will be given to its art school than to gallery space.

"You put the two together and you get one of the greatest, if not the greatest, collection of that art in this country," said National Gallery director Earl A. Poweel III of the museum merger.

"Face it: the Corcoran isn't going to be the old Corcoran. It is going to be the new National Gallery," Powell said. "I think we will hope to kind of push edges here."