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Tourism Minister Melanie Mark publishes the business case for the costly replacement of the museum, although important parts of the 109-page document are obscured.
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May 25, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 5 minutes reading • 60 comments Screenshot of the business case to replace the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, as presented to the media on May 25, 2022.
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The NDP government is doubling its controversial $ 789 million plan to demolish and rebuild the Royal BC Museum, presenting the commercial case on Wednesday showing that revitalizing or repairing old buildings would cost as much or more than a new museum.
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Tourism Minister Melanie Mark has released the long-awaited business case and 34 additional documents to justify the $ 789 million price of what will be the most expensive museum in Canadian history in direct, non-inflated dollars.
“We understand that this investment is a lot of money,” Mark told a news conference. “We’re just not going to let this project go. There’s a risk of doing nothing.”
Mark said five years of work confirm that the cost of repairing or improving the seismically unsafe building would outweigh the cost of replacing the museum with a new building. Mark showed no signs of backtracking on the plans despite acknowledging public reaction to the project.
“My office has received both concerns and celebrations,” he said. “I think there are people who don’t understand why we’re doing this. Hopefully today’s efforts will help British Colombians understand what’s at stake and the opportunity to have a more designed and reimagined 21st century building.” .
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Prime Minister John Horgan did not attend the press conference. It has faced a barrage of criticism for announcing the plan to close and replace the 54-year-old museum in the absence of a public consultation and a design for the new building.
BC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon has vowed to cancel the “vanity museum boondoggle” if he becomes prime minister in the 2024 election.
However, BC Liberal labor critic Todd Stone points out that the demolition of the current museum will begin in the spring of 2024, months before the October provincial elections.
Stone said Wednesday that “it is surprising that the government is duplicating this project” despite public protest.
The budget includes $ 550 million for the design and construction of the new museum and $ 239.5 million for project and insurance management, reduction and demolition, packaging of exhibit and gallery items, costs of equipment and contingency costs.
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An additional $ 224 million will be spent on a new archive and collection building in Colwood, a suburb of Victoria. This building will be completed in 2025 to finally house part of the contents of the 14-storey Fannin building. That brings the total price to $ 1 billion.
Significant parts of the 109-page business case are obscured, including the wording on the breakdown of the cost of capital of each of the components of the project. The indicative design is also darkened.
Stone said he is concerned that critical information about cost breakdowns and risk analysis has been hidden from the public. The launch of the government business case was an “elaborate exercise in smoke and mirrors” that will not bring any worried Britons, he said.
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The price estimate allocates $ 230 million to account for the costs of inflation between now and 2030, including 10% inflation in 2022 and nine percent in 2023.
Screenshot of the business case to replace the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, as presented to the media on May 25, 2022.
A March 2018 seismic report commissioned by the Ministry of Citizen Services determined that the 10 buildings and structures on the Royal BC Museum grounds are “seismically deficient” and need to be improved or replaced.
This report found that completing all seismic upgrades and flood mitigation work would cost $ 129.7 million and the total cost to build a completely new museum on the same site is $ 407.5 million.
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However, government officials said the report did not take into account the cost of removing asbestos from the building and packing and removing items from the building.
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BC Green MP Adam Olsen said the business case does not explain why the museum’s seismic risk makes it a higher priority for upgrades compared to the 250 BC schools expecting seismic upgrades.
Mark said the money invested in the museum does not hinder government work on seismic improvement of schools or the construction of new hospitals.
Along with the seismic hazards, museum officials have long complained that museum space limitations prevent it from including exhibits from around the world. It also lacks a proper loading dock and sections of the museum, which are below sea level, are prone to flooding.
These concerns prompted the government to consider five options, three of which are as expensive or more expensive than replacing the existing building site.
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The five options range from the cheapest option: maintaining the status quo and doing regular maintenance at a cost of $ 89 million, to the more expensive option of renovating existing facilities to address seismic risk. , environmental risk and facility conditions at a cost of $ 1.30 billion.
Once the project team decided to opt for a new museum and a new research and collections building, they considered four options for the location: build a new museum and collections in a new location, build a new one. museum and collections in two separate buildings. sites, build the museum and collection buildings on the existing site or, the option he eventually won, rebuild the museum on the existing site and build the collection building in Colwood.
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The planning team selected 20 sites that were close to the city center and had enough land to house the new building. Finally, it was determined that there were no viable alternatives to a new museum in the city center core other than the existing site.
The government is also facing rejection of plans to close the museum on September 6, four years before construction begins on the new building in 2026.
The museum’s director general, Alicia Dubois, said the closure is necessary to facilitate the complex “decanting” process, which means carefully packing and detailing seven million priceless artifacts. These items will be moved to a warehouse in North Saanich until the research and collection building opens in Colwood in 2025.
kderosa@postmedia.com
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