CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Monticello's visitor center will close next month in preparation for a new one that is expected to open in November.

The museum shop, exhibition and theater space will close June 8. Much of the exhibition will be relocated to the new Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center and Smith Education Center.

Piedmont Virginia Community College hopes to get approval from Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials to renovate and expand the more than 10,000-square-foot facility to roughly twice its size. The college wants to convert the building into a work force development center.

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau's tourist information office also is located in the building and it will remain open.

-- The Associated Press