B.C. Government Tries to Rein in Controversy over New Provincial Museum

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B.C.'s NDP government has taken the unusual step of releasing a detailed business case for its planned $789-million rebuild of the Royal BC Museum in Victoria amidst backlash over the price tag at a time when affordable housing and family doctors are in short supply in the province.

The plan, which would see the museum rebuilt in a prime spot on Victoria's Inner Harbour, across the street from the B.C. Legislature, has been criticized as a waste of money by the opposition Liberals, who say they would cancel the project if they are elected in 2024. 

Construction to replace the aging museum, which requires seismic upgrading and greater accessibility measures, is set to begin before the next election.

The business case shows the price tag will only increase if it the project is delayed.

“The facilities are beyond their useful life with major systems including heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems that are outdated,” the report says.

“The current museum is beyond its useful life and is seismically unsafe for visitors, staff, collections and exhibits.”

Melanie Mark, Minister for Tourism, Art, Culture and Sport, said the cost to repair the building, built more than 50 years ago, would exceed the cost to replace it.

“We are releasing the business case to provide as much background as possible," Mark said. "The announcement of a new museum is the culmination of a decade of work. We have done our due diligence to determine the best path forward."

The museum, which houses some seven million artifacts, will close in September so the collection can be moved to a suburban storage facility. A new archives building is expected to open in a nearby municipality in 2025. 

Keeping the building partially open during construction, expected to take eight years, was not feasible, the business case says. It will take more than two years to dismantle the building and remove hazardous materials. The new building will be about 25 per cent larger than the existing space. It is expected to reopen to the public in 2030.

The controversy has attracted international attention, with a recent story in the Britain's Art Newspaper, dubbing it "the most expensive museum in Canadian history" and rehashing the museum's recent struggles with racism.

It cost about $340 million to build the Canadian Museum of History, which opened in 1989. The Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, described as the largest museum in Western Canada, cost $375 million when it was completed in 2016. The new Vancouver Art Gallery is expected to cost $400 million.