B.C. invests $789 million for new safe, accessible and culturally inclusive museum
Posted May 13, 2022 3:03 pm.
Last Updated May 26, 2022 9:12 am.
The B.C. government says it will spend nearly $800 million to build a new Royal Museum in Victoria.
The current museum will close its doors in September, but will be offering travelling exhibitions and regional satellite displays in the province.
Premier John Horgan says the museum needs to be brought into the 21st century and the new, $789-million building will be seismically safer, inclusive, accessible and modern.
Big day for the @RoyalBCMuseum! We’re turning the walls inside out! We’re partnering with the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt & Songhees Nations. It’s the largest arts & culture investment in BC’s history! It’s our commitment to reconciliation & the next generation pic.twitter.com/vFDKnVDXz1
— Melanie Mark Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak (@melaniejmark) May 13, 2022
Melanie Mark, B.C.’s minister of tourism and the only First Nations woman to serve in cabinet, says the museum will update its exhibits through consultations with residents, including Indigenous communities.
Mark says though the changes are long overdue, she considers it to be “reconciliation in action.”
“Now more than ever we must see the value of museums and … our shared stories and to see the canvas of where we’ve come and where we’re going,” she said.
The new museum is expected to open in 2030.
