P.E.I. Museum Collection Running Out of Room

Jason MacNeil, collections manager for the P.E.I. Museum, stands among a tiny portion of the treasures stored at the artifactory. MacNeil says the facility and seven heritage sites across the province are full. Photo special to The Guardian by Charlotte MacAulay

CHARLOTTE MACAULAY Special to The Guardian
as published by The Guardian Dec 30, 2009

The P.E.I. Museum collection is almost full to capacity and soon there will be no room to store more Island treasures, says the museum’s collections manager.

Jason MacNeil said some donations of larger pieces that require a controlled environment will have to be turned away because the artifactory and the seven heritage sites across the Island are full.

“We will survive and do the best we can until we get something better, but the need is getting more and more urgent.”

MacNeil said donations to the P.E.I. collection have increased significantly since the plans to build a new artifactory in Murray River were shut down.

“It keeps us in the minds of people when they are going through Aunt Martha’s attic.”
MacNeil said since renovations in 2007 there are no environmental issues with the facility, but they would do better with more staff.

“That’s just caring for it (the collection); exhibition is a whole different issue.”

A report outlining the costs of a provincial museum commissioned by government was tabled in the provincial legislature Dec. 1. Communities and Cultural Affairs Minister Carolyn Bertram said the report looked at 11 different options.

Bertram said one that brings the P.E.I. Museum all under one roof is the most desirable, yet the most costly at $41 million.

“Our next step is to review all the options and then secure the funding,” she said.

Bertram said if the province were to go with the $41-million option, funding from the other provinces could be a possibility since the Island is the birthplace of Confederation. She said tying the opening to the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2014 would give the federal government a reason to contribute.

MacNeil said a centrally located museum and storage facility is ideal.

He said an exhibition of the artifacts last year at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery to celebrate 40 years as the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation displayed a very small fraction of the collection, which houses over 80,000 items.

One option the province is looking at is similar to The Rooms, the provincial museum in Newfoundland, Marketing and development director for the Rooms, Chrysta Collins, said their museum cost $51 million to build.

She said the structure houses public archives, provincial art gallery, exhibit space and environmentally controlled artifact storage. She said people knew something had to be done to preserve the province’s collection.

“There was not a lot of kickback to the cost.”

Construction began in 2002 and with a one-year delay, due to financial constraints, was completed in 2005.

The Rooms has a yearly operating budget of $6 million and with revenues from admission fees and event rentals they break even. Admission fees run from $5-$7.50 with a family rate of $20. The museum operates under the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation and is a non-profit Crown corporation.

The Rooms houses an art gallery. P.E.I. would not need an art gallery included in its plans as the Confederation Centre of the Arts is the main gallery for the Island.

Autumn Tremere from the Department of Communities and Cultural Affairs said financial terms regarding the day-to-day operations of a P.E.I. provincial museum can’t be decided on until the museum becomes a reality.

See comments about this article posted by readers on The Guardian site - Dec 30, 2009