After four years of speculation, visitors to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) will be able to make up their own minds about one of the most-talked-about renovations in the country. From June 2 to 10, the museum will give visitors a sneak peek at its multi-million-dollar renaissance project.

The main attraction? The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Designed by Daniel Libeskind, the architect behind several components of the new World Trade Center site, the ROM's aluminum-and-glass prismatic chrysalis looks like it is bursting out of the ROM's historic limestone buildings on Bloor Street.

"I think people who liked it already will like it more," says Francisco Alvarez, director of communications for the ROM. "And people who may have had reservations will learn to like it."

Besides the Crystal, with its seven new galleries, four-storey atrium and rooftop restaurant, Alvarez says the museum's main 1914 buildings have also been restored to their original splendour by opening up vaulted ceilings and arched windows that had been covered up over the years, making for brighter, airier spaces to complement the Crystal.

After the June preview, most of the galleries will close so that staff can begin installing exhibits which will open throughout the year. The two Crystal galleries that will remain open until August will feature Japanese paintings from 1690 to 1850 and the work of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.