The Royal BC Museum will be getting a new research and collections building with support from the provincial government, the Ministry of Tourism announced on Friday.
The new facility will be a separate, 14,000 square metre building that will house several items from the museum’s collection, and will provide research labs and learning spaces.
Minister of Tourism Lisa Beare says that current storage at the Museum puts valuable pieces, such as a collection of Emily Carr paintings, at risk.
“The building no longer meets today’s seismic or accessibility standards,” Beare said at a press conference on Friday.
The collections and research building will serve as a site for the BC Archives and hold the following collections:
- birds and mammals
- botany
- fish
- entomology
- history
- paleontology
- modern history
An eight acre piece of land at the Royal Bay development in Colwood has been acquired by the province at a cost of $14 million for construction of the new facility.
The province estimates that 950 jobs will be generated through the design and construction phases of the project.
There was no estimate on how much construction is expected to cost since the development is still in preliminary stages with no architectural design.
The government will be holding a design competition in coming months to lead development of the project.
Site preparation, including surveying and earthworks, will begin in October. The province says the project will likely break ground in winter 2021 and be completed in summer 2024.