Museums Meeting the Challenge of the 21st Century

 A conference called Museums Meeting the Challenge of the 21st Century was hosted by Nature PEI / CMA-PEI October 28th, 2025 at the Rotary Auditorium, Charlottetown Library & Learning Centre 12:30 PM. 

This was the agenda: 

1:00 PM Welcome / Land Acknowledgement – Diane Griffin Opening Remarks – Minister Zack Bell 

1:15 PM Keynote Speaker   Biodiversity Collections as a Public Good and Scientific Resource  Sean Haughian (Nova Scotia Museum) 

1:55 PM Discovery and Conservation of Fossil Life of PEI  John Calder (St. Mary’s University) 

2:15 PM Archaeological Research and Collections on Epekwitk  Helen Kristmanson (L’Nuey) 

2:35 PM BREAK  3:00 PM The Role of Museums in the Education System  Jason MacNeil (PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation)  

3:20 PM  Challenges of Developing a New Heritage Site  Vicki Bryanton (Fanning School) & Angela MacFarlane (Seacow Head Lighthouse) 

3:40 PM  Reimagining the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation  Matthew McRae (PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation) 

4:00 PM New Approaches to Sharing the Mi’kmaw Story  Julie Pellissier-Lush (L’Nuey) 

4:20 PM How to Increase Visitation and Audiences Janette Gallant (Parks Canada) 

4:40 PM ON YOUR OWN FOR DINNER  

6:15 PM Supply Presentations to AV Coordinator 

6:30 PM Keynote Speaker  (Re)-Imagining PEI Museums in the 21st Century  Ed MacDonald (UPEI) 

7:10 PM Discussion / Share your Ideas  

8:10 PM GOOD NIGHT -- Fill out conference questionnaire, or take home and send back Pre-register by email sent at: info@museumspei.ca  

https://museumspei.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Agenda-Museum-conference-2025.pdf

Is P.E.I. closer to having a provincial museum?

As published by CBC News July 14, 2023

'Who wouldn't love to be cutting the ribbon on a Prince Edward Island Museum?'

by Cody MacKay · CBC News · Posted: Jul 14, 2023 8:24 AM ADT | Last Updated: July 14

Exterior view of Beaconsfield Historic House.

Investments through the government's capital budget this fall — should they materialize — could help Beaconsfield and other sites around P.E.I. that need the upgrades. (Jane Robertson/CBC)

Whether it's on the street, in the garden at Beaconsfield or somewhere around town, time and again Matthew McRae gets asked the same question: When is P.E.I. getting a provincial museum?

McRae, the executive director of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, said he used to think it was a joke, a little elbowing from Islanders who think the idea is far-fetched.

But there's something to that question.

"There's a magnetic appeal to the idea of a provincial museum," McRae said. "It is one solution to the question of how do we tell our story."

The idea of P.E.I. having a provincial museum in Charlottetown has been floating around for decades. Previous governments have danced with it, but none has acted on it.

Central P.E.I. museum part of new government RFP

P.E.I. to build central museum

The concept resurfaced recently in the P.E.I. Legislature. A few weeks ago, Tourism and Culture Minister Cory Deagle responded to questions from Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker on the subject.

"Yes, a museum would be amazing to have," Deagle said. "However, we think that there's a number of museums and whatnot, sites across the Island where we have exhibits, which really haven't received any capital upgrades, whether it was the former government or our government before them."

But the government's plans for smaller museums may actually show the path toward a provincial museum — even if the existing facilities need funding of their own.

'I'm excited to find out what the best way to tell our story is,' says Matthew McRae.

'There's a magnetic appeal to the idea of a provincial museum,' says Matthew McRae. (CBC)

"Who wouldn't love to be cutting the ribbon on a Prince Edward Island Museum? It'd be great," he said.

"But I'm also aware that … we already have seven museum and heritage sites embedded in communities across Prince Edward Island. Beaconsfield is just one of them, and they all need a lot of TLC in order to be maintained."

Beaconsfield has seen better days

The Beaconsfield Historic House in downtown Charlottetown has been through the wringer.

Nick Longaphy says repairs to Beaconsfield will cost into the tens of thousands of dollars, and that it'll be done in phases.

Nick Longaphy says repairs to Beaconsfield could cost tens of thousands of dollars. (CBC)

Winds from Fiona tore against the shingles and siding, shaking the building violently according to staff. During the storm, a tree smashed onto the roof.

On the inside, plaster on the ceilings cracked and opened up so much that an entire room is covered floor-to-ceiling in protective plastic sheets, with dehumidifiers working overtime.

The building has been closed to the public for months as it undergoes repairs.

Every day the building goes without much-needed fixes, the damage worsens and the repair bills rise, said site manager Nick Longaphy.

Because of damage to the outside and inside of the building, Beaconsfield Historic House is shut down for repairs.

Beaconsfield Historic House has been shut down for months while it undergoes repairs. (Cody MacKay/CBC)

"If you want these buildings to stay in good repair, it's costly. It's time-consuming. You have to make good choices," he said.

"To keep the building running, to keep the museum running, to keep our community centre running, there's a cost to that — and right now that's substantial."

Longaphy estimates repair costs to go into the tens of thousands of dollars. He said they will likely have to be done in phases.

Investments through the government's capital budget this fall — should they materialize — could help Beaconsfield and other sites around P.E.I. that need the upgrades.

'We could really put some money into those areas'

Deagle has hinted in the legislature about a capital plan for the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation.

Minister of Tourism and Culture Cory Deagle in the P.E.I. Legislature taking questions from opposition members.

'We could really put some money into [smaller museums],' Tourism and Culture Minister Cory Deagle has said previously. (Legislative Assembly of P.E.I.)

"We could really put some money into those areas. But also perhaps a site somewhere where we can … perhaps have a few exhibits a year, where we can move artifacts through and whatnot to showcase those."

We think that there's a number of museums ... which really haven't received any capital upgrades.

— Cory Deagle

CBC News reached out to the minister for comment, but his office said they're entering capital budget planning, so there isn't more to say.

At the moment, Deagle's acknowledgement that smaller museums could use more investments from the province may be promising to the sites that need it.

And the upgrades the minister alluded to would be in-line with recommendations outlined in a 2022 report commissioned by the government, which also presented a path toward a provincial museum.

A 'gateway' museum

The more than 90-page report details strategies for P.E.I. museums while also giving details about what a provincial museum on the Island would look like. 

The Barker Langham report, which is over 90 pages long, details strategies for P.E.I.'s existing museums while also outlining what a provincial museum on the Island could look like. (Barker Langham)

The report, done by Vancouver cultural consultant firm Barker Langham, presents three alternatives:

Option A: $40 million to enhance, revamp and connect existing museum sites through "carefully curated narrative tours."

Option B: A $57-million museum and storage space designed to present "an overview of the history and heritage of P.E.I. in a central location, before introducing visitors to the various sites around the Island."

Option C: A larger, $112-million museum "which suggests the development of a provincial hub museum, which would present a broad history of P.E.I."

The report recommends Option B, saying the $57-million museum would act as a year-round "gateway" that would keep many exhibits in-house, but also direct people who want more information about P.E.I's history to smaller museums.

"A new collections facility should be developed providing safe storage and access to the collection and funds made available for each site to enhance their offer and attract new and wider audiences" the report said.

We're excited to try and raise all boats with this rising tide

— Matthew McRae

McRae said it's not immediately clear whether P.E.I. will get a provincial museum. But he wants to see what the next chapter is in this decades-long journey.

"I'm excited to find out what the best way to tell our story is," he said.

"Whether it's a provincial museum, whether it's several sites that really get communities across the Island excited about our history and sharing their part of the story, I'm open to anything.… We're excited to try and raise all boats with this rising tide."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cody MacKay

Multi-platform Journalist

Cody MacKay is a writer, editor and social media producer for CBC News on Prince Edward Island. From Summerside, he's a UPEI history and Carleton masters of journalism grad who joined CBC P.E.I. in 2017. You can reach him at cody.mackay@cbc.ca or on social media as @CodyBMac

PEI Provincial Museums System Strategic Plan Survey - Feb 2022

An online survey is now available through the website of the Prince Edward Island Museum & Heritage Foundation Facebook page:  

PEI Provincial Museums System Strategic Plan Survey

We would like to welcome and thank you for your participation in this survey! 

We really value your opinion and your experience and we’re so pleased that you’re joining us on this exciting journey.

WHAT IS THIS SURVEY ABOUT? 

The province of Prince Edward Island (PEI),  through the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, is currently developing a Provincial Museums System Strategic Plan. This means that we are thinking carefully about the future of our Museums on Prince Edward Island. 

We are launching this short survey to collect insights from our local community to help define the strategic direction of the provincial museums, inform future investments, and ultimately create a vibrant and holistic cultural heritage infrastructure for Prince Edward Island that we can all be proud of. 

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

There are 10 questions in the survey,  and  it should take about 10 minutes of your time to complete. Participation in the survey is voluntary. Personal information in this survey is collected according to section 31 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which means that the information you submit  will only be for the purposes of developing a strategic plan for the Provincial Museum System and evaluating the demand for museum programs and services.

Should you have any questions about this survey, please contact mhpei@gov.pe.ca.

                                                                             

We Need a Museum to tell our Natural History

As published in The Guardian, Charlottetown, PEI on Monday Jan. 20, 2020

We Need a Museum to tell our Natural History 

Daphne Davey’s excellent letter of Jan 14th outlined the need for a provincial museum that includes natural history. While the Museum Act of 1983 included natural history, we are still lacking facilities and staff for the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation to carry out various roles under that act.

The branch museums across the province provide interpretation of specialized topics like shipbuilding on a seasonal basis, but the need remains for a central facility to tell the full story. The natural history story is one of many needing to be told and hopefully it will be told within a central museum that addresses fully for the first time natural history and cultural history.

A new provincial museum facility could tell the full 10,000 year story of human life here as well as the natural history. Integrated interpretation of natural and human history as an interrelated story in a facility with adequate storage and work space would be ideal. Perhaps this year when we acknowledge 300 years of European settlement on PEI and increasingly recognize that reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and our relationship with nature are paramount, we will see the Province commit to this much delayed project.

Significant cultural and natural artifacts have been donated and purchased, while others await repatriation; it is now time to ensure these are housed in adequate space and shown to the public in a central facility. Without staff and facilities, all Islanders are deprived of an opportunity to share in learning more about this special place we call home. We continue to welcome millions of visitors with many asking directions to our provincial museum. We need a place that can tell the story of Prince Edward Island in a museum worthy of this remarkable place.

Ian Scott
Charlottetown

P.E.I. Needs a Natural History Museum

LETTER: P.E.I. needs a natural history museum
 Premium content
As published in The Guardian
Published: Jan 19 at 10:32 a.m.

EDITOR:

How exciting about the find of a 300-million-year-old fossil (Guardian, Jan. 11) in Cumberland! But how sad that Matthew McRae, curator of history for the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, is reported as saying his priority is to find a way to share it with the public, to put it on display.

The obvious home for this fossil is in the P.E.I. Museum of Natural History – alas, still a gleam in the eyes of many Islanders who have advocated for years for such a museum. What a big gap in our Island institutional assets! Such a museum would serve the causes of public interest, education, tourism, and above all conservation of our rich, natural environment.

This is not the first, nor the last, fossil to surface, and there are many more fascinating nature artifacts tucked away around the province. There are also other finds from P.E.I. housed in museums in other provinces, and even in the U.S. They ought to be housed at home where Islanders and visitors alike can enjoy them.

I add my voice strongly to those advocating to the provincial government for the establishment of a P.E.I. Museum of Natural History.

Sooner rather than later, please.

Daphne Davey,

Crapaud

OPINION: Provincial Museum - Years of Procrastinating

As published in The Guardian, April 11, 2019

Rosemary Curley and Ian Scott

Science educator Laura MacNeil points out the dimetrodon fossil’s patterns to Finance Minister Heath MacDonald and Parks Canada superintendent Karen Jans. - Contributed to The Guardian

Guest Opinion

Perhaps it is time to ask hopeful candidates on our doorstep a perennial question. Do you intend to provide Islanders with a museum telling the cultural and natural history of their own province?

In May 2007 we were promised that,

“A Liberal Government will put Islanders first by, . . .putting greater emphasis on educating our children about the human and natural history of our province. . . consulting with P.E.I. communities, museums, and our arts and cultural communities to explore options for a Provincial Museum”.

Liberal Party of PEI policy identified the provincial museum as a key issue in 2011 when “working to establish a provincial museum” was their stated policy.

The PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation has statutory authority as the provincial museum covering both natural and cultural history yet they have been deprived of the ability to tell us of this unique land, its creatures, and its culture. A curator of natural history, a natural history collection, a permanent display or exhibit telling of the natural history of PEI have never existed.

We need a provincial museum worthy of this province telling both the human and natural history.

Museums play a key role in conserving and developing a sense of identity as we each learn our place as part of unique ecosystems forged of land and sea. Closeness to nature needs to be introduced early and museums are key places for learning what nature can teach. In a generic world, the culture and history of your home province remains a strong asset in development of identity and sense of place.

Local identity is part of the reason tourists seek authentic experiences amid people living in relationship with land and sea. Attracted to unique cultures, tourists typically view museums as the introduction needed to begin exploration. Being a provincial capital without a provincial museum is hardly the way to welcome visitors. This summer when we honestly welcome the ‘dear mainlanders’ to our shores, isn’t it time we help ourselves and our visitors discover the real story of this remarkable island.

The Dimetrodon fossils located in the National Park date back 290 million years. Canada’s first ‘dinosaur’ was found in Spring Brook, PEI in 1854; yet it was Americans who ensured a world-class find was placed in a Philadelphia museum, in the birthplace of . . . America. Gradually science revealed that we were once the tropical heart of Pangaea, the supercontinent and our Dimetrodon predated dinosaurs.

The largest creature in the world is the blue whale and when a massive Prince Edward Island specimen died it was British Columbia residents who ensure it went on display in their museum. Proudly they display an Island specimen, yet we lack even a basic show case or picture-panel telling our own story.

Our irreplaceable human and natural history should not be for sale. It is our story to preserve, and our story to tell. So when you see a candidate knocking, have your questions ready.

Rosemary Curley is president of Nature PEI and Ian Scott is the organization's past-president.

Fiefdoms run by political, lifetime, patronage-appointed boards; beneath radar of public

Founders' Hall on the Charlottetown waterfront with the outdoor skating rink located in front. (Guardian File Photo)

BY KIRSTEN CONNOR

GUEST OPINION published by The Guardian March 21, 2018

Founders’ Hall is like a cat with nine lives as far as it affects taxpayers.

Various public entities appear to be playing musical chairs in their involvement in this previously public-owned heritage property.

These entities are quasi-government agencies, boards, authorities, corporation, whatever their names, created for political convenience. Many appear to be like little fiefdoms run by political, lifetime, patronage-appointed boards; staff, operating with taxpayers’ money, and beneath the radar of public scrutiny.

To recap the history of Founders’ Hall:

Canadian National Railroad built it. When redundant for its original use, it became the property of the provincial government.

Various uses were proposed such as a provincial museum or a farmers’ market. All were rejected and part of it became the home of the Tourist Information Centre.

A gruesome amount of money was then poured into the hare-brained idea of creating a museum with entrance fees, that imitated the real thing, available for free at Province House, just a few blocks away.

Ironically, they closed it, just as restoration brought visitation to Province House to a halt, and when that substitute could have given some pleasure to so many disappointed tourists.

In 2016 with the museum closed and in an expensive experiment, the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) was reborn and twinned with an alcohol sales venue in the tiny adjacent stone house.

This left Founders’ Hall mostly empty save for a few offices, and a sign on the door directing tourists to the stone house across the lot.

Last year saw the TIC moved back to Founders’ Hall and all traces of the museum gone - gone where? Nobody knows.

The owner of the building, Charlottetown Development Corporation, then sold the building and land to a private developer for a reported $3.35 M, (is the province holding the mortgage?) who immediately announced great plans for an artisan market for the vast area not leased by the government for the TIC. This, in competition with the well-established vendors in the cruise ship arrival terminal?

In January 2018, the City of Charlottetown announced the purchase of a land portion of the property for $1.25 M from the developer, amidst comments that had CADC sold it directly to the city, the taxpayers could have saved almost half the purchase price.

Roll forward to March 2018 and we learn that not the developer, but a public agency, the Port Authority is 'gauging different levels of interest' in space for an urban market, and has, before completing 'the gauging,’ already signed a two-year lease from March 2018, details of which of course are unknown.

do not know the amount of the lease. We do not know if it is for the bare hall with the cost of shelves and other furnishing to be borne by the Port Authority, in which case two years would hardly make a dent in recovering the cost.

There appears to be no business plan in place and rent is being paid while research (gauging) into sales space demands, and prospective numbers and kinds of vendors is being conducted.

What if there is no or only scant demand for space? Is the lease/rent adjustable, if this venture is only feasible during the summer months? A two-year lease is hardly long enough to develop a market presence in the community.

This is a rather unorthodox way of doing business, but perhaps it is not to be regarded as a business venture at all, but rather as a simple good will gesture between friends. How are we to know?

The announced lease arrangement between the Port Authority and the developer is obviously not based on a normal business decision.

It would be in the interest of all parties involved to have an investigation to clear the air, and to establish if this is a profitable venture or a form of bail-out or subsidy at the taxpayers’ expense.

The frosting on the cake for taxpayers, and to come full circle, would be if CADC bought back Founders’ Hall for $10 M and established a provincial museum there. The irony would be almost unbearable.

- Kirsten Connor was chair of the City of Charlottetown’s Heritage Review Board from 1979 to 1986

EDITORIAL: Paving paradise

Published originally by The Guardian - April 19, 2017

The Brighton Road site of the old Prince Edward Island Hospital, Prince Edward Home and palliative care unit, is slated for demolition in Charlottetown.

"There is speculation the site is being considered for a provincial museum "

Victoria Park in Charlottetown has been under tremendous pressure from development almost since the day it was created.  

The original 100-acre site was established in 1789 for the administration of the colony – primarily as a residence of the governor.
Over the following 228 years, the face of the park changed dramatically as green space was designated for recreational, institutional or commercial use.
A city – especially the Birthplace of Confederation – can never have enough green space. Charlottetown must make every effort to retain what’s left of the crown jewel of Victoria Park.
Future generations will benefit and be thankful.
Attention is focused recently on the former P.E.I. Hospital, and later the Prince Edward Home and palliative care centre. The building is empty and slated for demolition. The province is hesitating to declare the building surplus, because when it does, it will set in motion a final determination for the site.
Time is running out.
Several groups have their own narrow plans if they can obtain access or ownership. One hideous option is expansion of parking for public servants working in nearby provincial government buildings.
There is speculation the site is being considered for a provincial museum when other options are more appropriate. Developers are slavering at the prospect of commercial enterprises if the opportunity ever arose.
The city has the right idea. It wants no development, preferring the site revert to green space. That was the intent of legislation, which vested the property for a hospital in 1931 and for expansion of that facility in 1955.
Mayor Clifford Lee supports a memorial garden “to commemorate what that property was used for.’’ Many people spent their final days in the hospital, nursing home and palliative care. A memorial would be appropriate.
It’s essential to protect what’s left of Victoria Park. Access and service roads opened it up for heavy use. The park has seen the construction of ball fields, canteens, tennis courts, clubhouses, public swimming pool, playground and a skateboard park. 
Enough is enough.
The park was intended as a place for “retreat from the heat, filth and dust of the city.” In 1873, just days before the colony officially became a province, the governor vested a majority of Victoria Park to the city for all citizens “as a park, promenade and pleasure ground . . . On no condition may it be used for circuses, shows or exhibitions of any kind.”
The remaining 30 acres or so stayed with the province for a residence, gardens and grounds for Government House. The area has historical significance to province and country. The Fathers of Confederation gathered there for a famous photo and likely strolled the grounds now occupied by the former hospital. Countless royalty did the same.
The 1955 legislation stated “ . . . no part of the lands . . . shall henceforth be used otherwise than for hospital use.”
This is a chance to regain a portion of what was lost.
The province and city must ensure this will happen.

EDITORIAL: Betty Howatt leaves lasting legacy

As published in The Guardian Dec 13, 2017

This photo of Betty and Everett Howatt was taken in 2013. (Doug Sobey Photo) - The Guardian

 If ever a provincial museum should become a reality, the name of Betty Howatt should adorn the main entryway. Islanders owe her that and so much more.

A staunch and unfailing defender of rural P.E.I. died last Friday in Summerside

Tuesday, in Tryon People’s Cemetery, a grand lady of Prince Edward Island was laid to rest. Betty Zelda (nee King) Howatt, a staunch and unfailing defender of rural P.E.I., died last Friday in Summerside. Her obituary was short and unassuming, omitting details of the immense impact she had on this province throughout her 88 years.

Her numerous honours and achievements were not included in that simple death notice. It was typical of Howatt, who placed family, community and province ahead of self. While many Islanders are familiar with them, they certainly deserve mention again.

Howatt was a wonderful connection to the pastoral, unhurried province of yesteryear. It was almost as if she tried to recreate the romantic view of L.M. Montgomery’s fictional Avonlea at her beloved Willowshade Farm, where for 50 years she and her husband Everett operated a mixed fruit operation within sight and sound of the Northumberland Strait. Together, they ran the 75-acre farm that has been in Everett's family since 1783.

Howatt came to prominence in 1973, the Island's centennial year, when she helped form The Brothers and Sisters of Cornelius Howatt to counter a philosophy of "selling the province at any price." The Tryon farmhouse was the birthplace of Cornelius Howatt - Everett's great-great uncle and one of only two members of the Island legislature to vote against joining Canada in 1873.

Betty embraced change for the better, but that often meant she clashed with decision-makers when she thought the ‘Island way of life’ was under threat or things were going too far, too fast.

A well-known author and storyteller, she entertained Islanders with her popular and long-running weekly segment on CBC Radio’s MainStreet – Tales From Willowshade Farm where she provided weekly lessons on Island plants and wildlife. She also turned those snippets of country living into a book by the same title.

For many years, she was a loyal contributor to the Voice For Island Seniors. Her final submission, which appeared just last week in a Guardian insert, was timely and on topic, entitled ‘A Christmas Concert.’ Early in her career, she taught in rural schools of P.E.I. where the teacher’s reputation hinged on two things – keeping order in a one-room schoolhouse, and organizing a memorable Christmas concert. Her story of staging a Christmas concert more than 60 years ago was both vintage whimsy and humorous.

Her opinions were well known and she wasn’t hesitant about sharing them. At many key meetings where important decisions were being discussed, she was there to passionately defend her point of view.

She waged a 10-year campaign against the construction of the Confederation Bridge, fearing it would unleash a tide of development, which would forever negatively change the face of the province she loved. A founding chairman of the anti-link Friends of the Island, she took a leading role at public meetings during the plebiscite campaign. Even after the Yes side won, the Friends waged a legal battle against the bridge, winning a federal court ruling about an insufficient environmental review.

The outspoken activist on behalf of Island heritage was also an early champion of P.E.I.s environmental and agricultural heritage, promoting land stewardship, protecting our water and supporting the importance of farming to the Island’s economy and way of life.

An active public speaker and volunteer, Howatt also served with many local and national organizations. She was presented with the prestigious Award of Honour from the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation for contributions in raising awareness of Island heritage and for her work on the foundation’s board for 12 years. She was among the inaugural six recipients of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals for her community work, an honour later recognized on the floor of the Canadian Senate.

Howatt supported a P.E.I. heritage museum to preserve the stories of the Island. She said, “There are too many people who are just in the here and now and they forget what has come before.”

Now she is at rest close to her beloved Willowshade Farm. A pillar of Island society is gone but not forgotten. If ever a provincial museum should become a reality, the name of Betty Howatt should adorn the main entryway. Islanders owe her that and so much more.

- "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." (Timothy)

CATHERINE HENNESSEY: New direction for museum

As published in The Guardian, Nov 2, 2016

Let us not move too fast; ponder together what is best, how to proceed

© File Photo

Founders Hall is now up for sale. It has been touted as a possible site for a new provincial museum.

Yes, it is true we are the only province without a provincial museum and we have been on the lookout for one since 1880.

We took steps in 1964 with the memorial to the Fathers of Confederation and again in 1973, creating a network of heritage sites under the wing of the new P.E.I. Heritage Foundation.

Then in 2001, Founders Hall took shape in a very carefully restored railway building, although one has to admit the exhibits were far more for tourists than for Islanders.

The point I am trying to make is that we have done something, but as we have done things, the sector has changed and we would have been unfair to ourselves if we built - as we would have - had we moved for the ‘real thing’ on those past occasions.

To build for the 2020s we must pause and ask what exactly should be built. No doubt some of you have visited the new Halifax Library or The Rooms in St. John’s. Very interesting places that make me think.

Before we move too fast, let us contemplate a direction – one that fits our needs and that we can afford, both as a capital exercise and an apportioned one.

And before we go too far, should heritage foundation and museums, natural history groups, the library and archivists all be sitting down together and talking about it – and then they should invite others in to join them.

For one thing, just take a look at how, at both the Halifax Library and St. John’s – and many other places for that matter - are dominated by a bay of computers that could answer the common needs of all.

Please, please let us not move too fast and let us ponder together what is best for us and how we should proceed.

One roof sounds good to me. Leadership is essential.

 - Catherine Hennessey, Charlottetown’s best-known heritage activist, has been working to preserve and protect the city's historical distinctiveness for many years

Founders Hall should be provincial museum: Bevan-Baker idea supported by the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation

As reported by CBC News Prince Edward Island
Oct 24, 2016

The Green Party leader thinks Founders Hall would be a great site for a provincial museum, something P.E.I. governments have been exploring but have not acted on for years. (Charlottetown Area Development Corporation/Canadian Press)

The Green Party leader is urging the provincial government to turn Founders Hall into a provincial museum.

"I think it would be a fantastic opportunity for the province of Prince Edward Island to finally have its own provincial museum. We're the only province in Canada without one," said leader Peter Bevan-Baker.

He also thinks the timing is excellent given that Founders Hall is up for sale, and Ottawa is taking applications for infrastructure dollars specifically for social and cultural projects like this.

P.E.I. Green Party Leader Peter Bevan Baker says the timing is good because Founders Hall is up for sale, and Ottawa is accepting applications for infrastructure dollars specifically tied to social and culture projects like this. (Green Party of P.E.I.)

"So the dollars are there to be had, and if we had a provincial government with the will to do something, then to my mind this is the perfect time," said Bevan-Baker.

"Not to mention the fact that next year is, of course, the 150th anniversary of our country, which, of course, was founded here in Charlottetown."

Bevan-Baker said this would be an excellent legacy for that anniversary.

"Do we want our infrastructure legacy in the 150th anniversary of our country's history to be a perimeter highway, or do want it to be a place that celebrates the unique and the rich varied history of Prince Edward Island?"

Museum and Heritage Foundation supports idea

The suggestion of using Founders Hall for the museum was made by the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation three years ago.

The current board chair still believes Founders Hall would be an excellent location

"We are at capacity at our storage facilities in Charlottetown," said Carolyn McKillop.

"The ideal solution would be to have our artifacts out where everybody could view them and enjoy them."

McKillop said more people are donating important historical items to the foundation for further generations to enjoy, but that's not happening with them stored in the Artifactory at the West Royalty Industrial site.

She said having a provincial museum would help Island history come alive, especially for younger Islanders.

Provincial response

"Government continues to discuss a provincial museum but they have not reached  a point where‎ sites are being considered," said the province in a written statement.

CBC News was not given an answer whether a funding request has gone to Ottawa for a provincial museum.

Greens to renew museum support

As published in The Guardian, Oct. 24, 2016

EDITOR: I was delighted to see your recent editorial promoting the idea of using Founder’s Hall as a potential location for a provincial museum. As the only province without a museum, we are missing out, as your editorial says, not only on major tourism opportunities, but more importantly, ongoing opportunities for all Islanders, and in particularly our children, to learn more about P.E.I.’s fascinating heritage.

Whether it is cultural, geological, artistic or ecological, we have a uniquely rich and varied history which deserves to be on permanent display, helping to strengthen Islanders' sense of identity, as well as knowledge about our past.

It was Premier Campbell who set up the P.E.I. Heritage Foundation, and it would be a nice symmetry and a fitting tribute, if our current Premier - who literally wrote the book on Alex Campbell - would take this opportunity to leave a legacy worthy of their shared appreciation of Island history.

I made a statement in our Legislature last year supporting the establishment of a museum on P.E.I., and bolstered in part by The Guardian’s enthusiasm, look forward to bringing this up again when the House opens next month.

Peter Bevan-Baker,

Leader, Island Green Party 

EDITORIAL: Founders Hall offers opening for museum

As published in The Guardian, Oct 20, 2016

© File Photo

Founders Hall in Charlottetown is now up for sale.

Memo to the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC): Delay a plan to donate remaining historical displays inside Founders Hall to Confederation Centre and Heritage P.E.I. There might be life yet for the building and items relating to Charlottetown’s 1864 Confederation Conference.

The building on the Charlottetown waterfront - mothballed since last fall although several retail tenants did operate there this summer - is now for sale.

Isn’t this an opportunity to finally move forward on a long ignored and much needed provincial museum for Prince Edward Island? The location is superb. The building is historic. And the need is great.

Just over a year ago, Rosemary Curley, the president of Nature P.E.I., came out swinging in a guest opinion in The Guardian to argue for a provincial museum. She wanted the province to tap into fresh infrastructure funds being promised by the then-new federal Liberal government.

Ms. Curley was hoping for a positive decision on a provincial legacy project to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017. And what better way to proceed than on a human and natural history museum? We are the only province without one.

Sadly, her plea has fallen on deaf ears.

There has been a general underwhelming interest in celebrating the sesquicentennial of Canada’s founding, especially in the cradle of Confederation and despite our own successful 150th celebrations in 2014.

The lure of federal infrastructure money saw the province recently commit to a massive $65 million Cornwall bypass project. Is the Cornwall bypass going to be the provincial legacy for 2017?

The surge in cruise ship and tourist traffic in recent years has failed to pay dividends at Founders Hall. Why? The waterfront has been booming, especially since 2014 when the Confederation Landing Park hosted numerous events. But tourists and Islanders seem to have skipped Founders Hall.Founders Hall opened in 2001 after the former rail car shop was converted into an attraction saluting our founding fathers. It did have successful early years but tourism numbers have fallen. The decline is blamed on outdated displays that didn't prove popular in the digital age. Modern interactive exhibits might have drawn more visitors but CADC seemed to have quickly given up on this facility.

CADC wants the private sector to try something else - to develop the property as a multi-purpose retail venue to bring people to the waterfront. The corporation acknowledges its initial investment did pay off and the building was a significant player in the rejuvenation of the eastern end of the city. So why did its support for Founders Hall come to an abrupt end?

P.E.I. was left without a permanent legacy for 2014, despite the enormous benefits to the city and province from the Confederation Centre national memorial built for our 1964 celebrations. Now it appears the same fate is imminent for 2017.

Before the rush continues to divest this potential treasure, someone must step forward and explore the museum options for Founders Hall before it becomes another condo development obscuring the waterfront.

There is need for vision.

Time for action on new arena in capital city

Eastlink recently announced a multi-year deal to take over naming rights to the Charlottetown Civic Centre. The entire building, including the trade centre component, will now be known as the Eastlink Centre.

Published: Feb 18, 2016 by The Guardian

The giant blue elephant that has bedeviled Charlottetown and its city council for the past 30 years may finally be approaching the end of its controversial life span. There is a general consensus that it’s not before time. The city has approved a modest $75,000 to enable a task force to hire consultants and determine the feasibility of building a new, multi-use facility to replace the Eastlink Centre.

The civic centre complex was built primarily for the 1991 Canada Winter Games, yet the accusation was levelled at the time and for years afterwards that the arena was more suited for livestock than hockey games or entertainment shows.

It was easier to get a prize Holstein into the building at ground level than have the animal delicately tip-toe down a dizzying descent from an upper promenade. Thus, the error in the bottom loading of fans and the feeling of being inside a concrete coffin.

A fractious group was assembled around the boardroom table to finalize plans for a new arena in the late 1980s. The city favoured a waterfront location, while the province and Ottawa wanted to appease the regional racing and P.E.I. agricultural community at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The final design and location were a compromise. The civic centre did open a year early and thousands of young athletes, coaches and mission staff marched into the building almost exactly 25 years ago — February 17, 1991.

The arena has been undergoing renovations and upgrades ever since in order to welcome the P.E.I. Senators, the Rocket/Islanders franchise and most recently, the Island Storm.

Deficiencies that kept Elton John from appearing in Charlottetown are well known. The English rocker had serious security concerns. The singer didn’t want to compete with fans in the bowels of the arena trying to get to their seats while he was trying to find refuge in a dressing room.

And the list goes on.

Charlottetown is falling off the scale of event sites. Truro has just opened a new arena complex, Moncton is building a new facility to replace the aging Coliseum and Halifax is moving forward on a new convention centre.

The city wants to proceed cautiously. The key question is money — who pays to build and operate such a facility?  Conservatively, it would cost at least $40 million, and more likely, closer to $60 million. Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee is right. Just because a task force is exploring a multi-use facility does not mean it will be built. The business plan make no sense.

As for the location, everything seems to point to building on the site of the provincial government garage between Park Street and Riverside Drive, along the bypass highway.

Options exist to incorporate other attractions into the facility to bring more dollars to the table such as a hotel, provincial museum, commercial outlets and dining options. The Charlottetown Curling Club would welcome a chance to leave its cramped, outdated facility.

Simmons and Cody Banks arenas could be decommissioned as hockey rinks and used for summer events or sold. There will be cost advantages in a new facility.

An independent consultant’s report released in June 2009 stated the Civic Centre was poorly designed, already out-dated and fixing the problem would cost as much as $34 million. Building a new facility would cost over $40 million. That report has collected dust over the past five years.

The sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference in 2014 has come and gone without any permanent legacy. It was an opportunity squandered. Now the next best chance is to tie in with the 150th birthday celebrations of Canadian Confederation in 2017. If the city and province come on board and leverage the lion’s share of dollars from Ottawa for a legacy project, plus pry money from private donations — the facility might become a reality. The harness racing industry and Atlantic Lottery must play an important role in what happens as well.

The question facing Charlottetown is whether the capital city and its residents are content with a second-rate facility.

Patrons want amenities and attractions to convince them to attend games, trade shows or musical acts. There are lots of options for the entertainment dollar. Fans want comfort — not cramped, hard, plastic seats and obscured sightlines. They will stay home and watch the game on their computer or cable TV.

If the present facility remains in use, they’ll likely be watching games from Moncton and Halifax while scratching their heads and wondering why Charlottetown can’t attract or keep quality entertainment shows or sports teams.

If we want to accept mediocrity, so be it.

If we want a modern, vibrant multi-use facility to rejuvenate this city and province, it’s time to overcome challenges with some vision and risk-taking.

The giant blue elephant that has bedeviled Charlottetown and its city council for the past 30 years may finally be approaching the end of its controversial life span. There is a general consensus that it’s not before time. The city has approved a modest $75,000 to enable a task force to hire consultants and determine the feasibility of building a new, multi-use facility to replace the Eastlink Centre.

The civic centre complex was built primarily for the 1991 Canada Winter Games, yet the accusation was levelled at the time and for years afterwards that the arena was more suited for livestock than hockey games or entertainment shows.

It was easier to get a prize Holstein into the building at ground level than have the animal delicately tip-toe down a dizzying descent from an upper promenade. Thus, the error in the bottom loading of fans and the feeling of being inside a concrete coffin.

A fractious group was assembled around the boardroom table to finalize plans for a new arena in the late 1980s. The city favoured a waterfront location, while the province and Ottawa wanted to appease the regional racing and P.E.I. agricultural community at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

The final design and location were a compromise. The civic centre did open a year early and thousands of young athletes, coaches and mission staff marched into the building almost exactly 25 years ago — February 17, 1991.

The arena has been undergoing renovations and upgrades ever since in order to welcome the P.E.I. Senators, the Rocket/Islanders franchise and most recently, the Island Storm.

Deficiencies that kept Elton John from appearing in Charlottetown are well known. The English rocker had serious security concerns. The singer didn’t want to compete with fans in the bowels of the arena trying to get to their seats while he was trying to find refuge in a dressing room.

And the list goes on.

Charlottetown is falling off the scale of event sites. Truro has just opened a new arena complex, Moncton is building a new facility to replace the aging Coliseum and Halifax is moving forward on a new convention centre.

The city wants to proceed cautiously. The key question is money — who pays to build and operate such a facility?  Conservatively, it would cost at least $40 million, and more likely, closer to $60 million. Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee is right. Just because a task force is exploring a multi-use facility does not mean it will be built. The business plan make no sense.

As for the location, everything seems to point to building on the site of the provincial government garage between Park Street and Riverside Drive, along the bypass highway.

Options exist to incorporate other attractions into the facility to bring more dollars to the table such as a hotel, provincial museum, commercial outlets and dining options. The Charlottetown Curling Club would welcome a chance to leave its cramped, outdated facility.

Simmons and Cody Banks arenas could be decommissioned as hockey rinks and used for summer events or sold. There will be cost advantages in a new facility.

An independent consultant’s report released in June 2009 stated the Civic Centre was poorly designed, already out-dated and fixing the problem would cost as much as $34 million. Building a new facility would cost over $40 million. That report has collected dust over the past five years.

The sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference in 2014 has come and gone without any permanent legacy. It was an opportunity squandered. Now the next best chance is to tie in with the 150th birthday celebrations of Canadian Confederation in 2017. If the city and province come on board and leverage the lion’s share of dollars from Ottawa for a legacy project, plus pry money from private donations — the facility might become a reality. The harness racing industry and Atlantic Lottery must play an important role in what happens as well.

The question facing Charlottetown is whether the capital city and its residents are content with a second-rate facility.

Patrons want amenities and attractions to convince them to attend games, trade shows or musical acts. There are lots of options for the entertainment dollar. Fans want comfort — not cramped, hard, plastic seats and obscured sightlines. They will stay home and watch the game on their computer or cable TV.

If the present facility remains in use, they’ll likely be watching games from Moncton and Halifax while scratching their heads and wondering why Charlottetown can’t attract or keep quality entertainment shows or sports teams.

If we want to accept mediocrity, so be it.

If we want a modern, vibrant multi-use facility to rejuvenate this city and province, it’s time to overcome challenges with some vision and risk-taking.

Former PEI Hospital ideal for museum

Letters to the Editor (The Guardian) Published on January 14, 2016

I have written several times regarding this matter. I am pleased to read there are still other persons deeply interested in the building of a Prince Edward Island Museum.

The project has been over studied and promised for years. Now is the time to build it in time to commemorate the 150th birthday of Canada.

The ideal location would be the grounds where the former Prince Edward Island Hospital was built and is no longer in use. It could be a beautiful area with plenty of green space and good parking facilities. Also, it would be back to back with our beautiful Fanningbank. One would compliment the other in many ways.

Indeed a “Golden Opportunity” as another writer has stated.

I appeal to all Islanders to encourage the government of Prince Edward Island to take action on this long overdue project and finally highlight our very precious legacy.

Helen M. MacPhail,

Clyde River

P.E.I.'s provincial museum belongs at the Experimental Farm Grounds

Letters to the Editor (The Guardian) Published on January 14, 2016

The proposed provincial museum should be located on the Experimental Farm Grounds bounded by Mt. Edward, Allen and University to house the many artifacts that we can gather from Island history in the past.

Paul H. Jenkins,

Charlottetown

Montague makes pitch for new provincial museum

Steve Sharratt

Published on January 06, 2016 by The Guardian

MONTAGUE - The pending arrival of Canada’s 150th birthday next year is being touted as a “golden opportunity” to finally establish a provincial museum and Montague Mayor Richard Collins says he knows the perfect spot.

“Perhaps it’s time to consider the creation of the provincial museum right here in Montague,’’ said Collins. “We’re already blessed with having the oldest museum in the province (Garden of the Gulf) and we have an artifactory for the collection and storage of historical items, not to mention a genealogical centre that was swamped with people this year.”

And if that’s not enough, Collins says the 150th birthday of Canada in 2017 coincides with the 100th birthday of eastern P.E.I.’s largest town.

A guest opinion from Rosemary Curley of the Island Nature Trust and published by The Guardian in December described the 2017 celebrations as the “golden opportunity” for the province to break ground for a new provincial museum of Human and Natural History.

Curley praised Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker for raising the issue in the legislature and said it was high time such a facility was constructed.

“We have done considerable restructuring of our museum, which is the oldest in this province, and we are continually working to make our town a destination centre,” he said. “The last time a provincial museum was on the drawing board it was to be built in Murray River.”

Government has been holding out for years on this issue and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be right here in Montague Montague Mayor Richard Collins

That was in 1997 when former Premier Pat Binns went to Murray River a year after being elected and pounded the sign into the future site of a new museum.

Ten years later the site remained vacant.

During his six year term, former Premier Robert Ghiz mentioned it, but the file did not advance.

Other Island communities, including Charlottetown and Summerside, have also made the pitch for the provincial museum.

“Government has been holding out for years on this issue and there’s no reason it shouldn’t be right here in Montague,” said Collins. “And I don’t want to hear the critics say we’re too far away from Charlottetown.”

The federal government has already made a commitment to spend billions of dollars on social infrastructure as part of the pending celebrations.

Bevan-Baker described a new provincial museum as a “must-visit” facility for every Island school student, citizen and visitor.

A timely call for long-overdue P.E.I. museum

Editorial published by The Guardian on December 30, 2015

© CBC photo

 Rosemary Curley

More than 13 months ago, then-Premier Robert Ghiz said a provincial museum was not an immediate priority for his government but hoped it would become a legacy project when Canada celebrates its 150th birthday in 2017. The museum was high on the list for P.E.I.’s sesquicentennial in 2014 but it failed to materialize.

In mid-November, 2014, the speech from the throne suggested the province was exploring options on a possible museum project. It was a promise first made by the Liberals during the 2007 election campaign which brought them to power and repeated again in 2008. It was pushed to the background for much of the following six years until it emerged in the throne speech in November 2014. A week later Mr. Ghiz announced he was stepping down as premier and the museum idea went out the door with him.

It’s impossible to speculate that if Mr. Ghiz had remained premier, he might have championed the museum and action would now be underway to fund, design and construct this vital missing piece of our provincial infrastructure.

Time is already running out since the start of 2016 is mere hours away. Projects for 2017’s celebrations have rarely been publicly discussed nationally or provincially.

The province decided the 2014 P.E.I. celebrations were going to be spread out across the Island, with a focus on a celebration zone on the Charlottetown waterfront while various smaller events across the Island received support and improvements. Critics saw it as a wasted opportunity when upwards of $29 million in public and private sponsorship money was in play. Yet when the party ended, there was little left but the cleanup.

To be fair, there was a huge boost in tourism during 2014 which fortunately carried over into this year with another record-breaking season. The spinoffs from the past two big tourism years benefit the entire province, but where is our permanent legacy? Could not the two have successfully co-existed?

In 1964 we were endowed with the national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation — the Confederation Centre of the Arts — the heartbeat of the city for the past 50 years.

The president of Nature P.E.I., Rosemary Curley, came out publicly this week in a guest opinion to The Guardian to put forward a case for the museum. She wants the province to tap into infrastructure funds when they are doled out early in the new year. She wants action now and maybe something might actually happen in time for the 150th national anniversary of Confederation.

There has been an uneasy quiet about plans for 2017 — both nationally and provincially. There is a feeling that these infrastructure dollars being announced early in 2016 might be our best and only chance to commemorate the 150th birthday of Canada on a major scale.

Ms. Curley ripped past governments for shirking their responsibility and is calling out the province to commit part of the promised federal infrastructure dollars to building a human and natural history museum. We are the only province without one.

 Charlottetown is again extending feelers for a new sports and entertainment civic centre. Is there enough money for both projects, or even one?

The museum proposal was raised in the recent fall sitting of the legislature but received scant attention from government, opposition or media. It was left to Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker to speak to the issue in a statement to the legislative assembly that now might be the time for Islanders to begin to dream about a museum project.

Ms. Curley thanked Mr. Bevan-Baker for recognizing this golden opportunity to develop a museum. She is also imploring the province to move ahead on this project now that there is an interest at the federal level in funding joint projects that serve the needs of Canadians in the area of social infrastructure.

The needs are many on P.E.I. but few people can argue against this long-overdue and long-promised provincial museum.