Proposed changes to the RBCM: the clear white structure to the back left is the new curatorial tower & archives; to the right is a new entrance and multi-functional area. Source: Times-Colonist.
The Victoria Times-Colonist had a story Saturday that the Royal B.C. Museum is proposing a major expansion, in which theirs quare footage would more than double, from 379,000 to 895,000 square feet. The curatorial tower and the low-rise archives building on the NW side of the block would be demolished, replaced by a new multi-function complex which would also form the entrance to the museum. The collections and curatorial facilities, and the archives, would move to a new 14 story building to the south of the current museum. The RBCM C.E.O, Pauline Rafferty (an archaeologist by training) notes that ““We are now at a crossroads. We have outgrown our on-site storage facilities and significant artifacts are stored below sea level.” The article estimates the cost will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars which is easy to believe. The Times-Colonist weighs in with a strong editorial of support, citing the collapse of the Cologne archives last year with irreparable damage to the history of that City. So: no-brainer, right?
Northwest Coast Archaeology 