Province commits to creation of central museum

David Keenleyside, left, executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, Philip Macdonald, vice-chair, and Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram, announced Friday the province will commit to creating a centrally located provincial museum and will also work to develop a heritage strategy. Guardian photo

by JIM DAY as published in The Guardian, 15th of Nov, 2008


The future site for showcasing the province’s past appears likely destined to be in the Charlottetown area.
Heritage Minister Carolyn Bertram pledged Friday her government’s commitment to creating a centrally located provincial museum facility.

Further analysis will be done to peg the specific location, but the recommendation from a heritage report released Friday clearly seems to place the capital city as the prime candidate.

Bertram said the location would be centrally located in a place with the highest potential for visitors to the site.

“We are not going to prejudge where it is going to be, that is part of the (upcoming) process,’’ she said when asked if the site will inevitably end up in the capital city.

Still, the crowd gathered inside the main theatre of Province House cheered Bertram’s promise to create a centrally located provincial museum facility.

The previous Conservative government was ready for construction of a provincial artifactory in Murray River but the Liberal election victory in late May 2007 brought those plans to an abrupt halt.

The proposed $4.9-million project to house and display some of the more than 80,000 items of historical significance now being stored in the West Royalty Industrial Park also included a retail and boutique attachment as a way to stimulate more summertime business in this quiet fishing village.

But while the relocation bid was applauded by the P.E.I. Heritage Foundation, it drew the ire of other heritage buffs who insisted Murray River was too far off the beaten track and the province should be building a provincial museum instead in the capital city.

Bertram hopes to see the museum open within “the next few years’’ but future analysis — and capital budget approval — is still needed to determine many factors for the promised facility. Among the unanswered questions is where will the museum be located, will it be housed in an existing building or will a new facility be constructed and what will be displayed in the facility.

Bertram says it is important for the government to undertake proper planning for a new facility to ensure it meets the expectations and needs of Islanders.

She also wants her government to support capital upgrades to the current seven provincial museums that dot the Island.

The $60,000 report, called Charting A Course, also calls for government to develop a strategy to guide future planning for heritage. Bertram says government will work immediately to create a strategy.

“Within one year, we will have a series of heritage priorities and specific action areas identified to address various heritage needs,’’ she said. “The strategy will recognize that heritage goes beyond bricks and mortar — heritage is a way of thinking about our Island community.’’

That philosophy sits well with Catherine Hennessey, a vocal advocate for the promotion and preservation of the Island’s heritage.

“I have a belief in a museum, but I have a deep belief that we can put a group of people together — a staff — that will help one end of this Island to the other interpreting and preserving our history,’’ she said following Friday’s announcement. “The call is out now for the community to support this wonderful first step.’’

More than 500 individuals and organizations came forward with their concerns and suggestions in helping the IRIS group prepare its report.

Other recommendations in the report include:

• - Making more effective use and enforcement of existing legislation, notably the Heritage Places Protection Act. Proclaiming the Archaeology Act and developing regulations.
• - Strengthening and clarifying the mandates regarding administration and provincial heritage resources.
• - Giving more prominence to heritage concerns within government as part of the decision-making process.
• - Increasing support for community museums through the Community Museums Association