BOSTON (AP) – The Museum of Fine Arts broke ground Monday on what has grown into a $500 million expansion plan to transform the 135-year-old museum into an inviting gathering place for everyone from out-of-state tourists to neighborhood kids, as well as a showplace for great art.

The museum’s director, Malcolm Rogers, said the goal of the project, which is expected to be completed by 2010, is to make the museum more accessible to the general public and easier to navigate.

“The central mission is that art is for everyone, and this expansion will bring it closer to everyone,” he said.

The building project, designed by British architecture firm Foster and Partners of London, will expand the size of the museum by 149,000 square feet, or roughly two-and-a-half football fields.

New galleries, a central covered glass-and-steel courtyard with a cafe and a new wing dedicated to art of the Americas highlight the expansion project.

“We hope to bring new life to the museum,” said Spencer de Grey, deputy chairman of Foster and Partners.

The plan also calls for redesigning the front entrance of the museum on Huntington Avenue as well as reopening the Fenway entrance on the museum’s north side. These changes will better link the museum to the surrounding neighborhoods and parks, including Boston’s Emerald Necklace, an urban green space designed by Frederick Law Olmstead in the 19th century.

“I really don’t know much about art. I have a hard time picking out a tie in the morning,” said Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., who helped secure federal funding for the expansion. “But I do know that it makes life better for all of us. I do know that the world is better off when our kids are exposed to the great artists of the world.”

The new four-story American wing will house art from prehistoric Native American and pre-Columbian collections to 20th century works in all media. It will also include learning galleries, a 150-seat auditorium, studio arts classroom and workshop and offices.

The museum announced the expansion project four years ago, and has since raised $316 million, making this the largest fund-raising campaign in the history of Boston’s cultural community.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra raised $150 million in a campaign finished in 2001.

Ranch Kimball, the state secretary of economic development, said besides bringing more art space to Massachusetts, the expansion could bring more dollars.

“Tourism is the third largest industry in Massachusetts. It generates $11 billion in revenue,” Kimball said. “And the MFA is a centerpiece of that.”

More than 1 million people visit the museum every year, and about a third are from out of state, Kimball said.