British Columbia Government to Build New $800 Million World-Class Royal Museum | urbanized

The Royal BC Museum in central Victoria, as we know it, will cease to exist on September 6, 2022, when it will close permanently to begin its complete demolition and refurbishment.

During a press conference this afternoon, the provincial government officially ushered in a new era for the museum through the construction of a new world-class, state-of-the-art museum building on its current five-acre location on the edge from Victoria’s Inner Harbour, right next to the BC legislature.

This new main museum complex is expected to cost a total of $789 million, and its design and construction process will last until the end of this decade. This will be the largest single investment in non-hospital buildings by the provincial government since the construction of the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Center and the renovations and new roof of BC Place Stadium.

The existing museum has seen few major changes and improvements since it was built in 1967. The provincial government today emphasized the need to safeguard seven million artifacts in modern earthquake-resistant facilities.

“Once completed, it will be a state-of-the-art museum, an iconic destination for tourism in British Columbia, but particularly here in Victoria. It will be a place for generations of British Columbians to learn more about the extraordinary history of this province,” said Premier John Horgan.

“We have gone through the due diligence that governments must do when making massive investments like this. But this is an investment that will spread throughout the province.”

Since last year, the museum has come under fire for its decision to close its European settler galleries in early 2022, a move that drew sharp criticism for a lack of public consultation and transparency about both the exhibition’s closure and its future. from the museum.

Officials today reiterated the need to also modernize the museum through a lens of reconciliation that adds an indigenous narrative layer.

“We are taking steps to ensure that the stories of all the British Columbians who shaped this province are added to the collections and exhibition halls of the new Royal British Columbia Museum. We are bringing the diverse stories of British Columbians and indigenous people out of the shadows into the light,” said Melanie Mark, BC Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.

Alicia Dubois, the new Executive Director of the Royal BC Museum, added: “The purpose of the museum is to inspire learning, curiosity, self-reflection and innovation, and to challenge our perspectives, attitudes, the way we think, how we interact and how We show ourselves to the world.”

“The Royal BC Museum is a provincial treasure. The Royal BC Museum is privileged to house the province’s historical collections, artifacts and archives, and also works closely with indigenous communities on matters of repatriation of their belongings. We have been doing all this important work in a museum that has passed its useful life.”

At this stage in the design and planning process, there are no concept images of the new museum, but Horgan and Mark said it will use mass-wood materials, have a high degree of eco-design features, and achieve high efficiency for all of its system. air conditioning. Local First Nations will also be consulted to establish a design with indigenous influences.

Although the museum building will close its doors this September after Labor Day weekend, the BC Archives will remain open until they relocate to their new permanent home in the Royal BC Museum’s research and collections building in suburban London. Colwood in Victoria in 2025.

Additionally, the IMAX theater, museum gift shop, and food trucks will remain open through early 2023.

The Royal BC Museum’s new replacement building is scheduled to open in 2030. This single building alone is projected to generate some 2,000 direct construction jobs and over 1,000 indirect jobs benefiting Greater Victoria and the Province.

Along with the Colwood facility, which is budgeted at $224 million, the complete modernization of the Royal BC Museum from the construction of two new facilities in different locations will cost a combined more than $1 billion.

Dubois says the museum will take the next few years during the downtime of the main museum building to develop new collections that will be displayed in the new museum.

In addition, there will be traveling and temporary exhibits from the museum’s collections in Victoria and across the province.

Earlier this year, the provincial government also announced a $27.5 million investment for the establishment of Canada’s largest Chinese Canadian Museum within Rennie’s former headquarters and private museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The Chinese Canadian Museum will open its doors in 2023.