PE: Communities still vying for provincial museum

City of Summerside

As published on July 29, 2011 by The Journal Pioneer

by Mike Carson

Deputy Mayor Bruce MacDougall said Summerside made its presentation to the Province last year promoting the city as the logical location for a provincial museum.

In the 2010 throne speech, the Prince Edward Island government promised a celebration that would reach out to all Canadians and develop a legacy for the future.

That legacy is expected to be a provincial museum.

Since that announcement communities across the province, including the City of Summerside have been vying to be the home of the provincial museum.

Deputy Mayor Bruce MacDougall said the city made its presentation to the Province last year promoting Summerside as the logical location for a provincial museum.

"If there's going to be a new provincial museum on P.E.I. we'd like to see it located in Summerside," MacDougall said. "We haven't heard anything... concerning the new museum."

There has been some suggestion that the Province break up the museum and have regional facilities reflecting that area's culture and heritage.

"We're looking for the whole thing," added MacDougall.

After the plan was announced, the Province did send out for proposals for the new museum but the projected costs were high, in excess of $50 million.

Harry Holman, director of culture, heritage and libraries with the Department of Tourism and Culture, said the plan is still in place.

"We're still looking," he said. "We did have a very productive meeting with the City of Summerside last year, but there's been no decisions or advances from where we were at that time.

"We're considering the approach. The Province remains committed to a provincial museum, but it has to fit in with the other plans and priorities of the province."

The Province is looking at putting forward a proposal to the federal government to make the provincial museum part of the legacy for the 150th anniversary of the Confederation Conference.

"That's certainly a possibility as the planning for the 150th moves forward that is one of the areas where there will be some discussion," Holman said. "David MacKenzie has just been appointed, but the role that he's playing is with the activities rather than the legacy.

MacKenzie, the outgoing CEO of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, will begin his new assignment on the anniversary celebration in early August. His early priorities will be to work closely with various levels of government to draft a vision framework and business plan for the 150th celebrations.

Design of provincial museum still being discussed

Published on February 8, 2011

The Journal Pioneer

SUMMERSIDE – The idea of a provincial museum is still being discussed but when it will be built, where it will be built and what it will look like, has yet to be determined.

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. “There have been a number of communities who have expressed an interest.”

Summerside was one of those communities that made its proposal to the Province last year and Summerside Mayor Basil Stewart said the city’s position has not changed.

“We presented our situation to the minister and I think he understands that we are very interested in having it here in Summerside,” Stewart said. “Our oar’s in the water and we’ll just have to wait and see.”

That wait could be another six years before a provincial museum comes about.

“We haven’t put a formal proposal to the federal government so we don’t know whether they’re interested or not,” said Holman. “They are going to be involved in some sort of legacy for the 150th anniversary of the Confederation Conference and this is one of the options that hold some possibilities (for an injection of federal government funding).”

He added, “Summerside has made its pitch and the city put forward a good case.”

The cost of the project has been at the centre of the discussions.

The initial proposal came back with an extremely high price tag, in excess of $50 million. Government representatives believed it was “somewhat larger than the community had anticipated such a facility would cost,” Holman said.

Other options are now being examined.

“What we were asked to do is look at a couple of different options and possibilities to see where there were alternatives and where we would still end up with the three essential pillars. One is the exhibition space, which is what most people think of when they think of the museum, but that’s really only the tip of the iceberg. The whole collection storage piece is an extremely important part of that and the ability to do programming in association with the museum.”

P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation seeking public's input

STAFF
published by The Journal Pioneer Sept 29, 2008

The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation is looking for public input into two projects of historical significance to Prince Edward Island.

The Prince Edward Island CN Pensioners, in partnership with Service Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island, are conducting an interview-based project titled, CN Pensioners: Stories of the P.E.I. Railway.

The objectives of this important project are to collect and preserve an oral history of the railroad on Prince Edward Island, to recognize the valuable social and economic contribution made by the former railroad and by those who worked on it, and to establish a searchable oral history record that may be available to the public at large for future research.

The work will be conducted throughout the province and is based out of the Museum and Heritage P.E.I. administrative offices at 2 Kent St., in Charlottetown.

For more information, or to offer information, please contact Project Manager, Barb Morgan at 368-6600.

The second project is called "Heritage Garden Project at Beaconsfield Historic House."

Officials at Beaconsfield Historic House are planning to develop the garden and grounds to an historically accurate garden style popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Research into the history of the grounds of Beaconsfield and horticulture in Charlottetown during this period will continue through until November.

Project manager Dr. Elizabeth Schoales invites anyone with photographs, records, or memories of the grounds at Beaconsfield as they once were, or of Victorian or Edwardian horticulture in Charlottetown during that period of time, to contact her at 368-6600.

For more information on programs and services of The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, contact (902) 368-6600, mhpei@gov.pe.ca or www.peimuseum.com