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.

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.

P.E.I. wants others to pay for new museum

by WAYNE THIBODEAU
As published by The Guardian Nov 30, 2009

The Prince Edward Island government wants to pick the pockets of other provinces in an effort to secure the money needed to build a new provincial museum.

The Liberals have long promised to build a centrally located provincial museum.
P.E.I. remains the only province in Canada without one.

But once again there was no money in the capital budget released last Friday for the project.
Provincial Treasurer Wes Sheridan says that’s because the province is lobbying the federal government and other provinces to pay for the museum.

“The dollar value was huge as to what they thought was needed for a provincial museum here in Prince Edward Island,” Sheridan said.

“What we have done . . . as we move forward with our partners in Confederation to say in the 2014 year, when we’re celebrating the 150th year of Confederation and the meetings here in Charlottetown, we’re going to ask our partners to work with us towards this end.”

Last November the provincial government said it was going to build a provincial museum.

While a provincial museum has been promised, no money has been budgeted for the project.
The former government had promised to build a provincial artifactory in Murray River. The $4.9-million project would have housed more than 80,000 items that are currently
being stored at the West Royalty Industrial Park.

But the Liberal government killed those plans, saying Murray River was too far off the beaten track to house the facility.

The idea of having somebody else pay for the provincial museum is not new.
Edward MacDonald of the department of history at UPEI, described the 2014 celebrations as “…a rare and wonderful opportunity” for P.E.I.

“The year 2014 will mark the sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, now recognized as a critical milestone on the road to Confederation,” MacDonald wrote, in an opinion piece in The Guardian in September.

“In a small province with limited resources, where it always costs us proportionately more to keep up with the Joneses, 2014 offers a rare and wonderful opportunity. Why not use this ‘one-of’ funding opportunity to create another cultural legacy that will enrich the lives of Islanders, both present and future?

“Let’s use the special funding opportunity of the upcoming sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference to complete the task begun so bravely in 1973 by building a state-of-the-art provincial museum to complement the province-wide network of small, theme museums that currently exist.”

In the throne speech delivered Nov. 12, the province said it’s planning a major celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, which gave birth to Confederation.

Sheridan said the idea is not new. He said more than $400-million went to Quebec City during its recent celebrations.

Those celebrations marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City.

“We’ll be looking to collect some of those funds as well.”
See comments to this story by readers published on the The Guardian site - Nov 30, 2009

Collaborating on a museum

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR as published in The Guardian Nov 7, 2009
Editor:

I fully agree with Dr. Ed MacDonald's letter 'Let's build a provincial museum' (The Guardian, Sept. 26, 2009).

One thing I would like to add is the need for collaboration amongst all levels of government as was the case in 1964 with the building of the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Back then, the government of Canada provided the cash investment and the provincial legislature conveyed all of the property (approximately one acre) to the Fathers of Confederation Building Trust. The City of Charlottetown's contribution came in the form of an annual grant in lieu of taxes. Consequently, the Confederation Centre does not pay municipal taxes on the buildings or property. In 2009, this grant amounted to $208,000.

We need to encourage the province to lead the charge in announcing, within the very near future, the formation of a working group to plan a grand celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864. This plan must include the Parliament of Canada acknowledging Charlottetown's place in Canadian history as the Birthplace of Confederation by an Act of Parliament. As well, the new museum should incorporate this important and historical contribution including the many other facets of Island history.

A citizens group worked together to bring about the Confederation Centre of the Arts. Now it's time for the provincial government to provide the leadership to move forward and build a new museum with collaboration from the federal government and the municipal government of Charlottetown.

Philip Brown,

Charlottetown

Capital Lobbies for Provincial Museum

WAYNE THIBODEAU
As published by The Guardian, Oct 15, 2009

The City of Charlottetown is joining a growing list of Prince Edward Island municipalities that want to be home to a proposed provincial museum.

During a meeting of Charlottetown city council on Tuesday, Coun. Kim Devine commended the provincial government for deciding to build a new provincial museum.

Devine said she plans on outlining Charlottetown’s case to the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour. She said Charlottetown’s proposal would be “sustainable, feasible and a very appropriate location” that would provide year-round traffic to the museum.

“We are a city that has a rich history,” Devine told councillors.

Charlottetown’s pitch is that it is a capital city for the whole province, the centre with the largest population, as well as a well-established tourist destination.

The capital city says locating the provincial museum in Charlottetown would enhance other cultural centres in the city, including the Confederation Centre of the Arts, as well as strengthen existing historical resources, including the Public Archives located in the Coles Building.

Charlottetown isn’t the only municipality looking to be home to the provincial museum.

The Town of Stratford also wants the honour.

But the capital city may have an edge in the competition.

A firm specializing in planning and designing museums has completed a study looking at the possibility of converting the vacant Dominion Building on Queen Street into a provincial museum.

Lundholm Associates carried out the study for Canada Lands Company, the company that has control of the Dominion Building.

But Cultural Affairs Minister Carolyn Bertram said Wednesday no decision has been made on a location for a provincial museum. She did say the province is committed to creating a “centrally located” provincial museum.

“We are not going to prejudge where it is going to be, that is part of the upcoming process,” Bertram said last November.

Last November the provincial government said it was going to build a provincial museum.

But it may be years yet before construction actually begins. While a provincial museum has been promised, no money has been budgeted for the project.

The former government had promised to build a provincial artifactory in Murray River. The $4.9-million project would have housed more than 80,000 items that are currently being stored at the West Royalty Industrial Park.

But the Liberal government killed those plans, agreeing with some history buffs that Murray River was too far off the beaten track to house the facility.

Devine said creating a provincial museum to interpret and celebrate the Island’s history is long overdue.

“We are currently the only province that does not have a provincial museum,” said Devine. “But we are a province that is rich in its history.”