Future of Royal Alberta Museum’s Glenora site unknown

Posted: December 13, 2011

By Vickie Laliotis

EDMONTON — Now that federal funding to rebuild the Royal Alberta Museum downtown has come through, heritage advocates have high hopes for the current west Edmonton site.
Royal Alberta Museum

The facade of the Royal Alberta Museum’s Glenora location taken on Nov. 18, 2011, two days after Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn announced that a new downtown location would be built. Photograph by Vickie Laliotis.

Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn announced on Nov. 16 that the federal government would put $122.5 million towards the project on the condition that construction on the new site begins by November of next year.

A design-build contract was signed with Ledcor Design Group, with plans for the provincial museum to take up residence just north of City Hall by 2015 now in full swing.

“Although Edmonton has a huge connection to the current site, the vision that they have for the museum is a good, strategic move,” architectural historian Marianne Fedori said.

“But regardless of the museum being there or not, retention of the existing building is paramount as it has historical significance to Alberta, and it’s a wonderful example of late modernist architecture.”

After weeks of uncertainty regarding the proposed downtown location, and a rollercoaster ride over Ottawa’s $92.5 million contribution to the project, some Edmontonians are now turning their attention toward what will come of the existing building.

“We will miss the museum at its current site, but a whole series of issues would need to be resolved for the museum to be able to function there,” said Glenora Community League president Beth Sanders.

“They need to do what’s best for the museum and for the city in general.”

Located on 12845 102 Ave., the current building can barely house half of the museum’s collection and is not hermetically sealed to display certain pieces.

The new museum is to be 36,000 square metres — or about nine times larger than the Glenora location’s exhibit space — and will be properly sealed for a variety of exhibitions.

Edmonton-Glenora MLA Heather Klimchuk confirmed that the Royal Alberta Museum will continue to operate from its current location for the next three to four years, hosting exhibits and lectures until the new site is completed.

“Although no decision has been made regarding the current building’s future, it will remain a public site for Edmontonians to use and enjoy,” she said.

Klimchuk confirmed that a new official residence for the Lieutenant Governor will be constructed on the grounds, and that the province has plans to “build something magnificent for Alberta.”

The existing Government House building was home to six of Alberta’s lieutenant governors from 1913 to 1938, and now serves as a government conference centre.

No changes will be made to that particular building.

“I think that having the Lieutenant Governor’s house there again would be a remarkable way to promote Glenora’s history,” Fedori said, citing the possibility of a civic museum occupying the Royal Alberta Museum’s current building.

“The Heritage Council is doing a museum review for the City of Edmonton to look at all possibilities in the near future, including everything from whether or not it should be a museum, what kinds of collections it should house, et cetera,” said Edmonton Heritage Council executive director Allison Argy-Burgess.

“But for that space to be a museum of any kind, it would need extensive renovations first.”

Klimchuk agrees with the need for thorough renovations, noting the educational potential of the building as it stands. The current Royal Alberta Museum is connected to the Alberta SuperNet, linking it to universities, libraries and other public institutions across the province through a broadband network.

“The space is vibrant and it has a connection to the SuperNet, so there are some educational opportunities there that will be explored,” she said.

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