Saturday, December 12, 2009

Provincial museum could cost $41M: report

As published by CBC News - Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The P.E.I. government says a new provincial museum may cost as much as $41 million and it will be looking to the rest of the country to provide some of the money.

The ruling Liberals promised to build a provincial museum more than a year ago. P.E.I. is the only province in Canada without a centrally located museum.

Carolyn Bertram, the minister of communities, cultural affairs and labour, tabled a study in the legislature on Tuesday that laid out several sizes and configurations for a possible museum.

The largest and fanciest of those options would cost more than $41 million.

"Government now has to do some number crunching and see the best solution for Islanders and to secure the resources necessary," Bertram said.

"Again, $40 million is a lot of money right now when we look at the economy and the needs that are presented across our province."

She insisted the project was not dead and that the province hopes to get money from the federal government by linking the museum to 2014 and the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown conference that led to Confederation.

Bertram said any cost-sharing with Ottawa would likely happen under an infrastructure program.

"Government is continuing to work on this and it's very important in our department," she said.

Ian Scott, a heritage advocate and a former head of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, said he's disappointed the province isn't moving to build a museum right away, but he has hope it will still happen.

"It may not be on this year's capital list, but that's encouraging news that this is still a front-burner project for the provincial government," he said.


Note: - Readers comments related to this item are posted at the CBC site which hosts the original article.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A museum to house our heritage

Editorial as published by The Guardian, Dec 5, 2009

We, as a province, have to decide if our history is worth preserving


Members of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation and its many supporters must be disappointed with developments, or lack of, in recent weeks in connection with a provincial museum.

Last fall, the province made a firm commitment to proceed with a centrally-located provincial museum, and stated that plans to build such a facility would proceed "within a few years." Nothing has happened since then.

There was no mention of a provincial museum in the speech from the throne, or in the capital budget released last week. The province detailed nearly $500 million in spending priorities for the next five years but among the schools, manors and roads, there was nary a mention of a museum.

All the signs indicate that the province is backing away from fulfilling its museum promise. The provincial government's stimulus spending binge does appear to have a limit after all.

A study was released this week that suggested a facility to house a provincial museum, archives and records facility under one roof is estimated at a staggering $41 million. There are obviously other less expensive options for a museum. The former Dominion Building on lower Queen Street has always been a favourite among some museum supporters. One of the recently closed schools in the Eastern District could be utilized as well.

There comes a point when action must be taken. When the Liberals killed plans to build an artifactory in Murray River two years ago, it left more than 80,000 items of historical significance languishing in a warehouse at the West Royalty Industrial Park. The Opposition may be going too far by suggesting that the government has no intention of building a museum. Government says it will, but apparently only if Ottawa and other provinces help out as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference. Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan waxed on last week about this option but he made a poor job of trying to explain his rationale, leaving people wondering why P.E.I. was trying to 'pick the pockets' of Ottawa and other provinces.

What Mr. Sheridan seemed to be talking about was the suggestion first formulated and forcefully presented by Edward MacDonald of the Department of History at UPEI.

MacDonald sees the upcoming 2014 sesquicentennial celebrations of the Charlottetown Conference as a funding opportunity to create a memorial similar to the Fathers of Confederation Memorial Trust built to mark the 100th anniversary of Confederation. He says a state-of-the-art provincial museum to complement the province-wide network of small, theme heritage sites would be a suitable memorial for the nation. It's a solid argument.

More than $400-million of tax dollars helped mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City. This province contributed $500,000 to the Vancouver Olympics and another $500,000 to operate Atlantic Canada House during those games. No one can argue that we don't pay our share. There is a valid argument that a museum should be the major legacy of the 2014 celebrations.

There will always be solid arguments that the money for a museum would be better spent elsewhere, whether it be on a catastrophic drug program, seniors housing or any number of similar pressing issues. But as a province we have to decide if we think our heritage, our history and our accomplishments are worth preserving and showcasing. We are the only province without a central museum. It's an embarrassment and a solution must be found quickly.

Something needs to be done and done soon.

As first published on The Guardian website Dec 4, 2009
This excellent response to a recent Guardian article on the state of planning for the long promised new Provincial Museum building is well worth reading as it reflects well the voice of a young person who understands the value of museums.

Jennifer Donovan from Prince Edward Island writes:
. . . As a young museum professional who has worked on the Island, all over the Maritimes, Canada, U.S., and even abroad, I can tell you that a provincial museum is needed more than ever on Prince Edward Island. Museums are institutions that inspire, educate, and connect us to our communities--they are more than mere tourist attractions. The PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation has an outstanding collection of material culture objects. Islanders need to see this stuff and have faith knowing that their history and heritage will be preserved for generations. We can't understand the present until we understand the past.

The government needs to build this museum! But does it have to cost 41 million dollars? I don't know, but something needs to be done and done soon.

Liberals have killed museum plans twice, Currie charges

by WAYNE THIBODEAU
as published by The Guardian on Dec 4, 2009

A new report suggests a provincial museum could cost P.E.I. taxpayers as much as $41 million but Conservative MLA Mike Currie says the price tag is irrelevant because the Liberal government has no intention of building it anyway.

Currie accused the province of scuttling plans for a provincial museum not once but twice.
When the Liberals were elected, Currie said they scrapped plans for a provincial artifactory in Murray River and then they failed to include the museum in last week’s capital budget.
The capital budget lays out the provincial government’s spending priorities for the next five years.

“This was a promise of yours,” Currie said during question period.

“Did you not have the support of your cabinet colleagues to go forward with construction of a new museum?”

A report released earlier this week said the museum could cost as much as $41 million.

That interim report prepared by Bergmark Guimond Hammarlund Jones Architects and Lundholm Associates Architects said P.E.I. needs a “… strong central institution that can provide a comprehensive overview of the Island’s natural and human history and serve as a strong support to a network of heritage sites.”

The authors of the report say there are benefits to combining a central museum with the public archives.

The report then outlined a series of options ranging from a museum facility alone with reduced permanent exhibition space at 12,000 square feet at a cost of $24 million to the Cadillac version, which would include a full program museum and archive facility with 20 years of planned on-site collection storage and 20,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space at a cost of $41 million.
Cultural Affairs Minister Carolyn Bertram said her government remains firmly committed to a centrally located museum.

“We are doing our homework before we get into this too far unlike the previous government that was just going to build a storage facility with no thought or planning into it,” Bertram said.
“Our government is committed to a provincial museum.”

When the Liberals were elected they killed plans by the former Progressive Conservative administration for an artifactory in Murray River.

That facility would have stored the nearly 80,000 artifacts that are currently being housed in a warehouse in the West Royalty Industrial Park in Charlottetown.

The province wants the federal government and other provinces to contribute to a new,
central museum as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference.

Currie then suggested during question period that the province should
work with the Town of Stratford to locate the provincial museum in Stratford.

“Now, that’s something that his administration would have done,” said Bertram.

“We are not going to go and pit one community against the other. We’re taking the recommendation of the study that it should be centrally located.”

See responses to this article at The Guardian site.