New Royal Alberta Museum Opens

×

Expand

The new Royal Alberta Museum opened on October 3, 2018

It was a mammoth job: years of construction, moving millions of objects and installing myriad exhibitions. But the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton is now welcoming visitors in its new location.

Premier Rachel Notley opened the museum, built at a cost of $375 million, praising the museum's role in preserving and sharing the stories of Alberta and its diverse communities.

"These stories will provide us all a greater sense of the people, places and identity of Alberta and are an important contribution to our cultural landscape,” she said.

The opening celebration included an Indigenous blessing and the dramatic unveiling of two bronze mammoths, a focal point in the museum's large light-filled lobby. 

The museum displays some 5,000 objects in its galleries, which focus on natural history and human history.  There's a bug gallery with live invertebrates, a children’s gallery and a feature gallery that will host international exhibitions, as well as a museum shop, café and theatre.

Museum staff have worked with Indigenous communities and an Indigenous content advisory panel to develop exhibits. Admission fees are waived for Indigenous people.

The museum includes French language content in its galleries and new multimedia elements.

The design concept, led by Alberta architect Donna Clare, incorporates elements from a Canada Post distribution centre that previously occupied the site.

The museum, which opened in 1967, holds more than 2.4 million objects in its collection. It is now the largest museum in Western Canada, spanning 419,000 square feet, twice the size of the first facility. 

Source: Royal Alberta Museum