Provincial museum should be built in Charlottetown, deputy mayor says

 As published by The Journal Pioneer on February 24, 2011

The City of Charlottetown is the best place to locate the Prince Edward Island Provincial Museum, says the capital's deputy mayor, Stu MacFadyen.

“We have to see the big picture – this is a museum for all of Prince Edward Island,” MacFadyen said.
The provincial government has said the museum should be located in a central part of the Island.

“When Samuel Holland surveyed the Island in 1765 he recommended the Capital City should be in the centre of the Island. You can’t get any more central than Charlottetown, right in the middle of the island,” MacFadyen said in a media release.

The museum should be located in the province’s capital city, he added, where thriving cultural institutions such as Confederation Centre of the Arts, are located.

“The museum should be in the cultural cluster, where there can be spinoffs and groups can work together, begin to hum together and get their creative juices flowing. A provincial museum can’t be in isolation.”

The 500 Lot area of Charlottetown – known for its historical function and built character and of tremendous complexity – is the heart and soul of the city, where iconic architectural landmarks define its image and the impression on thousands of visitors is ultimately shaped.

“More than any other district in the city, if not the province, the 500 Lot area is a broadly treasured and shared amenity,” MacFadyen said. “It’s a capital city’s responsibility to be the home of a museum detailing its province’s history.”

Summerside made its proposal to host the museum to the Province last year and Mayor Basil Stewart said the city's position has not changed.

"They're welcome here with a new museum and that we feel we're fairly central," he said. "We had all kinds of reasons to why we think it should be here, the same as any other community on the Island. It's our responsibility to make a presentation for something that's going to happen on P.E.I."

Harry Holman, director of culture, heritage and libraries with the Department of Tourism and Culture, said there is still much interest in the project that was proposed two years ago.

"The whole project is very much still alive but it hasn't moved to a decision-making stage at this point," Holman said earlier this month.