The former Royal Alberta Museum (Photo credit: James Dow from Capital Modern)
The former Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta, more recently known as the Royal Alberta Museum, adjacent to Government House, is located on a beautiful site in Glenora. It opened in 1967, with the Honourable Judy LaMarsh, Secretary of State in the Pearson government, presiding at the opening ceremony with Alberta Premier Ernest C. Manning, and the Honourable Dr Grant MacEwan, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta in attendance.
The Government of Alberta recently announced that they would be tearing down the building that used to house the Provincial Museum, and converting the area to a ?green space.”
We must pause for a second however, and consider what this means for the Province. When we see a future, we celebrate all that we and our predecessors have done to create it. We celebrate the remarkable vision of our leaders. Over the past century, Alberta has had leaders who had the courage to dream big and invest in our future, and now we stand on the shoulders of giants. So what comes next"
Architecturally, the former Provincial Museum building was well built, well designed, and served its purpose for several generations of Albertans to explore and learn.
Now is not the time to destroy it, but rather it is the time to reimagine it for new uses in the future. There are countless examples all over the world, where buildings outlived their original purpose, only to exemplify new ideals in a...