Construction to replace the aging Royal BC Museum will begin before the next provincial election by adding a tricky layer to the ongoing saga.
The province on Wednesday released a business plan showing that cost options were similar to building a new museum compared to the seismic improvement of the current museum.
The business case shows projections of rapid cost increases for a replacement if the province decides to delay the project.
2:44 Royal BC Museum replacement time questioned by reporters Royal BC Museum replacement time questioned by reporters
BC Liberals have announced plans to halt the $ 789 million reconstruction project if elected in 2024. It is unclear how starting construction before the election would change the promise.
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“The facilities have outlived their life with major systems that include obsolete heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems,” the report says.
“The current museum is beyond its useful life and is seismically unsafe for visitors, staff, collections and exhibitions.”
The business plan states that the revitalization of the current museum would take six years and cost $ 979 million.
2:57 British Columbia Tourism Minister presents business argument for replacement of the Royal BC Museum
Due to the complexity of relocating the current elements of the museum and demolishing the galleries, it was determined that it was not possible to keep the building partially open during reconstruction.
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The new archive building is expected to open in Colwood in 2025 and will maintain the museum’s presence.
“We are publishing the business case to provide as much funding as possible. The announcement of a new museum is the culmination of a decade of work. We have done our best to determine the best way forward. The business case is the culmination of five years of work, “said Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports.
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“The cost of the repair would outweigh the cost of the replacement.”
The province has set an expectation of fundraising, but has not revealed how much they have asked the Royal BC Museum to raise.
An outline of what the new Royal BC Museum will look like. BC government
BC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon has vowed to stop rebuilding if he is elected prime minister in the next provincial election.
“At a time when British Colombians are struggling – higher housing prices, higher gas prices – the Prime Minister believes this is the right time for a vanity museum project,” he said. tell reporters last week.
“I can’t see any capital spending anywhere in the budget. I can’t see a budget plan anywhere.”
Read more: BC Liberals promise to rule out the Royal BC Museum project if elected in 2024
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Horgan responded to the legislature, saying that the first record of the issue that came to the attention of the cabinet was in 2006 under a previous Liberal government.
“It was reviewed again in 2013, again in 2014, again in 2015 and finally – and this is the part that I think is important – in 2017, the then Minister of Finance, after five visits to the Council of “Treasury, advised the (tourism) minister of the day to return with a capital plan for the site before September 30, 2017,” he said.
“He didn’t do that meeting, but we did. We took that information. And for the last five years, we’ve been working with stakeholders.”
The museum is scheduled to close in September, and the new one will reopen in 2030.
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