Can a no-win become a win-win?

as published in The Guardian March 29, 2007
Harry Baglole, Bonshaw

Editor:
It appears to me that the artifactory controversy represents a no-win situation for the main parties involved.

First of all, the Island’s very vocal ‘heritage community’ sees the removal of the main artifact-horde to Murray River as an action which might well pre-empt the creation of a much-needed high-quality and well-resourced central provincial museum facility. I share that concern.

Second, the beautiful community of Murray River stands to gain precious little from playing host to an artifact storage facility, with a couple of employees commuting from Charlottetown.
Here is my suggestion for a possible win-win situation.

Instead of accepting an inert artifactory, the community of Murray River might aspire to become the home of a major Island-mandated natural history museum, operated as a branch of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Museum. Such a facility has long been a dream of the Island natural history community. And what better location than Murray River, located in one of the Island’s most beautiful and unspoiled landscape regions? For starters, the museum could help preserve and interpret the Murray River Pines, a lovely natural area right in the village. It would also be a major attraction for southern Kings.

I have two related suggestions: first, that government commit to updating the artifact storage facilities in Charlottetown; and second, that a planning process be started to create a Prince Edward Island provincial museum worthy of the name. Its purpose would be to tell the Island story — truly and well — while providing core support to all the branch and community museums across the Island, including the P.E.I. Natural History Museum in Murray River.

All of this will cost more money, of course. But it’s been 30 years since any major new investment was made in Island heritage development. And the premier tells us that the Harper budget has been good to P.E.I.