HANSARD P.E.I. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 14 DECEMBER 2006 - pg1045-1047
Speaker: The hon. Member from Winsloe- West Royalty.
Mr. Collins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I feel compelled to rise and speak on this issue because, number one, the old leaky artifactory is now located in my District of West Royalty. Everyone’s known for many years that it needs great improvement to preserve these 80,000 artifacts there. I know at one time there was a scheme to try
to move the artifactory or build an artifactory down in Orwell Historic Village, and for whatever reason that did not come to pass.
It’s been recognized for a long time that we need to do something concrete to really preserve these valuable pieces of Prince Edward Island history. As far as the artifactory going to Murray River, I have no problem with that, just as long as it meets all the various specs that are required to do the job of preservation. That, of course, I’m sure it’ll be state of the art and there should proper sprinkler systems, alarm systems for various events that could damage any of the goods inside there, and of course humidity controls, air conditional controls, things of that nature.
Certainly, a space reserved as well - and I know from my conversations with some people who do work at the artifactory at the moment - that they look forward to having a really interesting workshop there, a much larger space premises where they do some of their restoration work on some of these artifacts. That in itself, I’m sure, will probably be something that could be a display of in the Murray River area when it comes to looking at the artifactory.
Speaker: Hon. member, on the motion that’s on the floor on the provincial museums, it’s not the artifactory.
Mr. Collins: Yes, Mr. Speaker, but first of all I have to at least express an endorsement for the current plans for the artifactory before we deal with the museum. The artifactory is one step. The museum is another.
Speaker: Hon. member, you’re not arguing with me.
This is the motion on the floor now: “Whereas the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation has become an essential part of our community and the preservation of our history.”
Mr. Collins: Very well, Mr. Speaker, and I will address that specifically. I think the challenge here when it comes to a provincial museum - and it is a challenge and we have to answer this question - how are we going to get these 80,000 articles displayed to the public of Prince Edward Island? It’s one thing to have them in an artifactory protected and preserved, but who is going to see them?
Now I don’t know if we should use the term a central provincial museum. It’s been well outlined here that we do have a decentralized provincial museum system on Prince Edward Island, as was pointed out in detail by the hon. Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs. It also has been pointed out that we have, I believe, 31 community museums on Prince Edward Island. So we’re not lacking in the sense of having our heritage on display Island-wide.
But if we were to take - very few of these 80,000 artifacts are going in and out of these museums. I asked the person in charge and he said there’s only a few of these items that come in from some of these seven museums right now for safekeeping over the winter. It is not an on the go warehouse out there. So the challenge is, how do Islanders get tosee the 80,000 artifacts? Are we just going to spend $4 million-plus to keep them preserved and no one gets to see them? So I think the challenge is here we have to devise a plan whereby Islanders can get to view and appreciate the artifacts of their heritage.
Now whether that is a provincial museum or a more centralized or a larger museum facility, then so be it. I would endorse the idea of planning to devise a way to come up with a plan so Islanders can see the 80,000 artifacts.
Now we’ve got a situation down there at Founders’ Hall on the waterfront. I’m not aware of its success over the few years that it’s been operation, in terms to say whether or not that one big display of a few days in September 1864, as momentous as they were in Canada’s history, should be a
permanent display within the walls of Founders’ Hall. But I think there you have a facility on the waterfront that could possibly serve as a venue for a rotational display of some of the 80,000 artifacts. So that we could, if you will, in an ideal world, yes, salute the three days in 1864 as part of that, because it is part of Prince Edward Island’s history. But so is the ice age and so are the Aboriginal people, the Mi’kmaq, and working our way up, so is Jacques Cartier, and so are the first settlers, so is the beauty of the original Acadian forest, so is the hard work and toil of rooting out the trees to make the fields of Prince Edward Island as they are today.
People who know Prince Edward Island history far better than I can think of chapters and periods of this history that are right now displayed in those seven museums. But I’m talking about a centralized area where you can whet your appetite and venture out to learn more about shipbuilding at Green Park, or to learn more about the history of the railroad down in Elmira.
So I think I would support the idea of planning by government to come up with a scheme whereby the 80,000 artifacts are not permanently hidden. Because to this point, from what I have heard about the artifactory in Murray River, there may be some display but I don’t think it’s going to serve as a museum site per se. So I think we owe it to Prince Edward Islanders to make sure that while we preserve them we also have a plan to display them.
I think that the idea of refurbishing Founders’ Hall or looking at another role for that should be something to look at. I believe CDAC are the principal owners of that facility and I believe the provincial government is the principal owner of CDAC. So I think with the partnerships there, that is something that we could look at. That whole area doesn’t necessarily have to be devoted to displaying the 80,000 artifacts. I know there are a lot of other ideas that people had for refurbishing that area of the waterfront in Charlottetown. But certainly the idea of a display of some of these 80,000 artifacts should be incorporated into it.
So while I cannot support the motion as currently written in that there should be a provincial museum, I certainly will support some sort of a planning scheme to come up with a way to get those 80,000 articles displayed. The Leader of the Opposition in his remarks was talking about: There must be some federal money for this. I’m sure there is federal money available. When I was in Newfoundland, in St. John’s, which perhaps has the most outstanding newest distinguished, if you will, edifice that takes care of the provincial museum, provincial archives - it’s the provincial art gallery. It’s $50 million, it’s called The Rooms. If anyone is familiar with Newfoundland, it sits on the landscape of the city right next to the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, which is the biggest basilica east of Montreal in Canada. Of course, the joke in St. John’s is that The Rooms, when you look at it with its beautiful long slate roofs, they say The Rooms is the box that the Basilica came in. Architecturally, it’s created a great deal of controversy in that city.
But here’s the point that I want to make. Fifty million dollars-plus to build that, $2 million federal money, $48 million provincial dollars. So while the Leader of the Opposition might say there’s a lot of federal money for this, I’d like to see the figures on the cheque before I’d start venturing much further with that. Because this can be a very expensive venture. It’s one thing that the artifactory -to protectthese valuable pieces of Island history. That’s step one. But I really do think that in step two we should come up with a way that Islanders, our children today, our grandchildren tomorrow, will be able to see, touch, experience their heritage. Why hold on to these 80,000 items if we’re not going
to display them? No reason to do it. If we’re just going to keep them under wraps, like they’ve been under wraps in West Royalty for years, let’s not bother spending the money down in Murray River.
I really think it has to go hand in hand for preservation and display. Somewhere along the line we have to go to display them. I’mnot saying it has to be the provincial museum, because we all know that themuseums across Prince Edward Island are doing a very good job in fulfilling their specific mandates. I applaud them for that. It is certainly meant in a decentralized way to get Islanders and visitors moving around to appreciate in their local the history of those things that are on display there.
So, Mr. Speaker, that’s all I have to say about the motion for now. But I do hope I have left the very clear impression that building the artifactory is just step one.
No comments:
Post a Comment