“We thought we had it right and obviously not,” Prime Minister John Horgan said on Wednesday. “I announce we will stop the project. And we will return to the drawing board.”
Just over a month after it was announced, the province is putting an end to the $ 789 million project to replace the Royal BC Museum with a new building, Prime Minister John Horgan said on Wednesday.
The decision comes after a strong reaction from critics, who argued that the money would be better spent on housing, health care and seismic improvements in schools and hospitals.
“We made decisions based on the best information available,” Horgan said at a news conference. “And we thought we had it right. Obviously we didn’t.”
The museum will remain open indefinitely, Horgan said. The museum’s board and CEO are now tasked with involving British Colombians in an open process as to how and when it takes place, he said.
The replacement project, which Horgan and Culture Minister Melanie Mark had said was motivated by seismic hazards, hazardous materials and a lack of space in the 1968 building, involved closing the museum in September, with a new building in the same place that was not to be opened. until 2030.
But the majority of British Colombians, 69 percent, opposed the project, according to a survey by the Angus Reid Institute published last week.
“I have heard from the people of British Columbia quite clearly that we were making the wrong decision at the wrong time,” the Prime Minister said. “It’s my responsibility to tell you today that I made the wrong call.”
Horgan said the lack of in-person participation made it difficult to assess public interest in the project.
“We committed to the public,” he said. “It was clearly inappropriate.”
Adam Olsen, a member of Tsartlip First Nation and MLA of BC’s Green Party for North Saanich and the Islands, said the government’s announcement missed an opportunity to explain what the consultation will be like. “We look forward to more information on what the consultation will be about. It is not articulating or clearly outlining what the plan is going forward. “
Olsen answered the prime minister’s statement that the museum protects BC’s collective history.
“It is offensive to the extreme when the prime minister talks about safeguarding our collective history because it undermines and overlooks that our cultures are still alive,” he said. “Many of these items (the sacred ceremonial elements, the cultural elements) behind the glass are as relevant today as they were when they were collected.”
Peter Milobar, an opposition finance critic for the BC Liberal Party, questioned whether the prime minister has a real plan. “The real question is whether or not it will be a meaningful and real consultation or just a delay tactic to have the illusion of the consultation, which will only increase the cost,” Milobar said.
In a statement, Paul Nursey, CEO of Destination Greater Victoria, said the province had made a “prudent decision”.
“The Greater Victoria destination supports investment in tourism-related infrastructure in our region, with the Belleville terminal being the number one priority,” Nursey said, adding that the museum’s closure is scheduled for September 6. left little preparation time.
In November, the museum announced that it would close the exhibitions in the old town on the third floor and European settlers as part of a decolonization effort.
These exhibits were eliminated, Horgan said, and the space is available for new exhibits once the museum begins its participatory process.
Work to build a new research and collections building in the Royal Bay neighborhood of Colwood is underway and is expected to be completed by 2025. This 14,000-square-foot building will help store seven million objects in power. of the museum.
ngrossman@timescolonist.com
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