This is the concept and rationale for a billion dollars for the new Royal BC Museum | urbanized

Without billion-dollar plan to renovate Royal BC Museum, BC NDP provincial government warns British Columbia’s most prized artifacts and collections could be lost due to catastrophic failure of museum built in 1968 in central Victoria .

Facing a public relations backlash following last week’s announcement of the huge investment and an extended eight-year spell without Victoria’s top tourist attraction, the provincial government explained to the media on Wednesday the rationale for the approach and the first concepts for the remodeling of the museum.

The project also generated controversy not only because of its unexplained cost, but also because of the lack of public consultation before reaching this late stage of the planning process, adding to previous public and media criticism of the museum’s decision. last fall to permanently close and gut its wildly popular third-floor galleries on European settlements without public consultation and little warning. Initially, reconciliation and decolonization were the main reasons for the closure of the third floor, but this logic was later downplayed.

The “risk of doing nothing”

Based on the provincial government’s analysis of the condition of the existing complex, its structural deficient seismic capacity rating ranges from a minimum of 5% for the archives building and the Carillon Tower to a maximum of 40% for the museum lobby. Provincial officials painted a picture of a possible building collapse even in a moderately powerful earthquake.

The building’s exhibits and underground storage areas, where seven million artifacts and collections are stored, could be lost due to structural failure.

BC tourism minister Melanie Mark also specifically noted that a flood could destroy the museum’s precious Emily Carr collection stored in the existing basement. The museum is located on the edge of Victoria’s Inner Harbour, which is vulnerable to major tsunamis, and the underground storage spaces are below sea level.

In addition to structural deficiencies, the building’s condition is also poor, with exposed rebar in the concrete in some areas and occasional sewage overflows and flooding within the building due to utility failures.

Mark said that the “risk of doing nothing” could “annihilate our culture” and that “someone will be to blame if we do nothing” and calamity occurs at the museum. Since it was built more than half a century ago, the museum building has seen relatively little reinvestment.

“Our plan was to introduce ourselves to the public and understand what is at risk. There is a cost to doing nothing and protecting our shared history,” she said, adding to the need to protect museum visitors and workers.

“The most profitable way to get a new museum”

The provincial government reviewed five options to renovate the museum, ultimately selecting the fourth option of building a new museum building on the 6.4-acre site and a new secondary facility for archives, collections, storage, and research needs.

Of the five options explored, the fourth option selected is the second most expensive and the second longest construction schedule. Option one, the status quo, would cost $89 million, while option two of building a single new museum in a new location would cost $811 million. The third option of building a new museum building on the existing location would cost $893 million.

The fifth option of extensively preserving and repairing the existing complex would take the longest to build and cost more than $1.1 billion, more than the fourth selected option of building a new museum on-site and a secondary off-site facility.

The secondary facility will be located in the Victoria suburb of Colwood, on land acquired by the provincial government. Construction of the $224 million secondary facility in Colwood will begin later this year and be completed in 2025. The provincial government is currently in the process of completing the procurement process for the design-build contractor.

As for the new main museum building at its current location, the provincial government explained that its cost of $789 million includes $550 million for the design-build contract, and another $239 million for the cost of demolishing the existing complex, designing and equipping the new building. interior spaces with exhibitions and galleries, project management and insurance, equipment and a contingency fund for unexpected expenses. The cost explains the forecast high annual inflation in the construction industry, peaking at 10% this year, 9% in 2023 and 6% in 2024.

“This is the most cost-effective way to get a new, state-of-the-art museum,” said Mark, noting that a completely new build from scratch is easier and cheaper, and that lower-cost options are insufficient.

Regarding the eight-year closure of the main museum, given the planned closure of the existing building from September 2022 until the opening of the new museum building in 2030, it was explained that preparation for the move would represent a substantial part of that schedule. .

The process of packing and moving the millions of artifacts alone will take 2.5 years; artifacts will initially be moved to a temporary storage facility, before moving these collections to the full Colwood facility in 2025. This process includes artifact cleaning, and even a single mask, for example, could take two to three days. to clean. Before being carefully stored, all items must also have a barcode.

Closing the museum after Labor Day 2022 allows the time-consuming packing process to begin so that the demolition and construction schedule is not delayed.

Demolition of the existing museum building in central Victoria, including the removal of hazardous materials, will take a further 2.5 years. The construction process of the museum building alone will take four years, followed by another year and a half to equip the exhibition spaces and galleries.

A design for the museum has not been established, nor has an architect been selected. But the provincial government aims to start the procurement process for a contractor in late 2022, and award the contract in early 2024, likely before the next provincial election.

The design process for the museum building would take place between early 2024 and mid-2025. The existing building would be demolished between early 2022 and summer 2025, at which time construction of the new building would begin.

The planning and design process for the new exhibits and galleries will occur from the summer of 2024 through the spring of 2027.

“The [existing] exhibits do not reflect the past or where we are today,” said Mark, reiterating reconciliation and decolonization as part of the rationale for the museum’s renovation.

New and expanded spaces of the world-class museum in Victoria

Apart from creating and commissioning an architectural design, museum officials and the provincial government have discussed what the new museum building will contain.

The new replacement museum building will have 230,000 square feet of total floor space, including 18,000 square feet of public space, 95,000 square feet of exhibit, learning, and program space, 15,500 square feet of learning support space, and exhibit, 17,900 square feet of building service spaces, and 8,500 square feet of museum operations and office space. While the vast majority of RBCM’s collections and research functions will be located off-site at the Colwood facility, the Victorian museum will still have around 26,000 square feet of collections and research space, and 1,300 square feet of storage space. for archives and conservation.

When the total square footage of the Colwood facility and the new Victoria Museum building are combined, the RBCM’s usable spaces by 2030 will amount to a 26% increase over what exists today. With the additional exhibition and gallery spaces, the museum has a growth capacity of 25 years.

Not only will more of the museum’s collections be displayed within the expanded exhibition and gallery spaces, given that previously only 1% of the collection was on display, but the state-of-the-art facilities and equipment will allow RBCM to attract world-class traveling exhibits from around the world. world. . The quality of the facilities stipulates whether other museums and collections will be loaned to the RBCM.

The new museum will also have a new replacement IMAX theater utilizing the latest digital technology, a multi-purpose and event space with a catering kitchen, gift shop, cafeteria, minor retail space through an indigenous artists’ cooperative, and underground parking. of payment.

RBCM officials previously contemplated adding a hotel, office tower, restaurants, and street-level retail, but later determined that these additional uses were risky and not essential to the museum’s core business. The museum does not want to own it, even if it would generate additional income.

The new museum concept opens up the possibility of adding a childcare component, but this is currently not included in the project and is dependent on further funding.

Prime Minister John Horgan has previously indicated that the building will use massive timber construction, incorporate traditional indigenous design considerations and be built to a high standard of eco-design.

Mark says structural safety issues with the existing complex have been known about since the 2000s, and he received a standing ovation from BC NDP colleagues for committing to doing this work.

Thousands of pages of analyses, studies and planning documents on the RBCM were released to the media on Wednesday, but much of it is heavily redacted.