Administrators are taking longer than expected to hammer out the final details of a deal to acquire the Corcoran Gallery of Art, a University spokeswoman said Sunday.

The Corcoran, GW and the National Gallery of Art – which will store the Corcoran’s 17,000 pieces of art – have been in talks since February about how to preserve the pieces of one of the country’s oldest art institutions and spokeswoman Candace Smith said the groups will need more time than the original April 7 date to finalize the details.

“Given the complexities involved in coordinating resolution of all issues among three institutions, it is likely that the parties will continue their work beyond April 7,” Smith said. She added that the three groups are still committed to completing the process but did not give a new deadline for the negotiations.

The takeover of Corcoran College, which has about 500 students, has excited administrators with possibilities of attracting more arts students, fundraising and partnerships across the country.

Administrators have spent the last six weeks answering big questions like how to integrate the small community of Corcoran students into GW’s liberal arts college, which has an even smaller group of fine arts students.

Since the merger was announced, some Corcoran students have voiced concerns about how their community would mesh with students at GW and said last month they hoped classes could remain small.

University President Steven Knapp said in February that he hopes that bringing Corcoran’s esteemed name to GW’s programs will help create an arts and culture hub in Foggy Bottom, but said he knew it would be a slow process to make the big decisions.

“In terms of the college becoming part of the George Washington University, it’s going to take a while to figure out exactly what the programs will be and how we will use the space,” University President Steven Knapp said in February.