News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 9.4K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
EarthCam Time-Lapse Documents Rafael Viñoly-Designed New Stanford Hospital Construction
 40K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
Resort Town
 5.3K     0 

Daveography

Daveography

Administrator
Staff member
Member Bio
Joined
Sep 22, 2015
Messages
10,218
Reaction score
23,070
Residents fret over fate of former Royal Alberta Museum
Supporters of the former Royal Alberta Museum received one piece of good news this week from the provincial government — the site will not be sold to a private developer.

But about 75 people who attended a public meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the fate of the old museum heard that its future is up in the air and the province is not ruling out demolishing the 50-year-old facility.

The meeting was billed as an open house by Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, who represents Edmonton-Glenora, where the building is located. Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason also spoke.
Click to expand...

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

Old Royal Alberta Museum building must stay, say residents
Molly Chisaakay’s great uncle once had his canoe displayed at the former Royal Alberta Museum.

“We must work to preserve what we have in Alberta,” she said. “This building will not be lost, no matter how much it costs.”

On Tuesday night, Edmonton Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman and Transportation Minister Brian Mason held a forum at the former Royal Alberta Museum site to seek citizen input on the building’s future — and the underlying thrust was about costs.

The ministry of transportation outlined that it will cost the government $50 million in maintenance work to keep the building, and it’ll also cost $2 million annually to operate it.
Click to expand...

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)
 
Opinion: We need a new vision to save old Royal Alberta Museum
The spirit of optimism which caused Albertans to elect a new government last year was what I brought with me to an open house at the former Provincial Museum of Alberta on Tuesday, October 25. I was saddened to leave feeling little in the province has changed.

I came for a meaningful conversation about the future of a great building. I spent my eveninglistening to the type of demolition announcement everyone in Edmonton’s preservation community knows. I suppose what I learned is that our difficulty respecting our built heritage is not a Conservative problem, nor an NDP problem. It is an Albertan problem, and an Edmonton problem.

It’s a strange ritual to sit through the consultations of a property owner who intends to demolish. The process has become so meaningless, it is more or less a liturgy that stakeholders recite as part of the demolition process. The first step is to inject the word “demolition” into the conversation without the property owner taking accountability for the decision. (“Demolition is one of a range of options we are considering.”)

This tactic is maddening because it is so effective. The word “demolition” is inserted into the conversation early, and grows in prominence as the consultations continue. A demolition permit is issued “just in case.” Construction fences go up. By the time the wrecking ball is on-site, the whole affair is surrounded with a fog of inevitability.
Click to expand...

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)
 
Paula Simons: Wanted: An idea good enough to save the historic RAM
It’s not a reprieve.

But it is, at least, a ray of hope for the old Royal Alberta Museum building.

Back in March 2016, Alberta Infrastructure put out an RFP, a request for proposals, to tear down the magnificent modernist structure in the heart of Old Glenora, and turn it into green space.

That news came as a shock, since the government seemed to be ploughing ahead with the notion of demolition, without any public consultation, any discussion with the Glenora community league, or any conversation with the City of Edmonton.

The contract was awarded to a consultant — though the government won’t say to whom — who prepared a final report on the demolition process, which the government received in late 2016. But the government won’t say anything about what’s in that report, or what the estimated demolition costs would be.

Now, some 22 months later, Alberta Infrastructure is finally asking the rest of us what we think.

the-former-site-of-the-royal-alberta-museum-in-edmonton-on-o.jpeg

The former site of the Royal Alberta Museum on Oct. 26, 2016. LARRY WONG / POSTMEDIA
The ministry has just launched an online campaign to solicit our ideas for what to do with the former museum site.

It’s not, the province is quick to say, an official “request for proposals.”

Instead, Alberta Infrastructure is requesting proposals of a different sort. It says it wants the public to come up with suggestions for what we could do with the facility, once the RAM moves all its operations and artifacts to the new museum site downtown. Museum staff are still using the place for staging and storage. They won’t move out completely until 2020. But after that, we need to find a plan and a purpose for one of the city’s most striking and beloved buildings.

More than that, we need an idea so compelling, and so economically viable, it will convince the government that the museum is actually worth saving.
Click to expand...

http://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/...-an-idea-good-enough-to-save-the-historic-ram
 
How about a pre-history museum when dinosaurs roamed and (after that) when mammals were huge and strange. These are very popular places -- e.g. Royal Terrell Museum in Drumheller and Philip J. Currie Museum in Grande Prairie. I suspect that some small corner of the new RAM will be devoted to pre-history, but imagine a whole building entirely devoted to re-creations of once dominant animals of the Alberta landscape, bone artifacts, 3-d vignettes of life in pre-historic times, virtual-reality platforms, virtual presence cinematics, animatronics and working laboratories. Kids would love it, parents would be forced to love it, the building is perfect for it -- right scale, good location for some outdoor creations at the edge of the riverbank and around the site. Again, this is where Edmonton could use some imagination and some progressive thinking. (By the way, I, too, would love it!)
 
3 years later.... The building is still empty and with no real vision for it which is a shame... SENATOR SIMONS where are you??? ;-) I vote for a Museum of Edmonton with a huge wing/section devoted to architecture. I would ideally love to see a large diorama of the skyline that's constantly updated with new buildings/proposals as they come along as is the case in some places... Shanghai for example! Super jealous of that huge Mo-Fo room-sized display they have. Also would to love to see an expanded permanent section on Unbuilt Edmonton since that one-off temporary display in City Centre mall was fantastic albeit too small and too short lived for my tastes... ;-)
 
IanO said:
Agreed. The Rossdale redevelopment should incorporate that.

I would love to see something on the current large parking lot overlooking 105st/RVR.
Click to expand...
This seem to be something almost unanimous, here. I believe the area has so much potential and I`m absolutely sure that good things will come to the place, in due time. I'd rather wait and have something truly remarkable, a world class landmark.
 
ION said:
3 years later.... The building is still empty and with no real vision for it which is a shame... SENATOR SIMONS where are you??? ;-) I vote for a Museum of Edmonton with a huge wing/section devoted to architecture. I would ideally love to see a large diorama of the skyline that's constantly updated with new buildings/proposals as they come along as is the case in some places... Shanghai for example! Super jealous of that huge Mo-Fo room-sized display they have. Also would to love to see an expanded permanent section on Unbuilt Edmonton since that one-off temporary display in City Centre mall was fantastic albeit too small and too short lived for my tastes... ;-)
Click to expand...
Now 7 years later with no real vision. Glad to know our Province has such a keen interest in the health and vitality of their capital city. Anyway...
I love this structure. It's too bad that it will likely be left to rot, while in the GoA's care, along with the rest of the site and structures on it.
20240709_121411.jpg
20240709_121059.jpg
20240709_121115.jpg
20240709_121332.jpg
20240709_121301.jpg
20240709_121253.jpg
 
JNO1 said:
Now 7 years later with no real vision. Glad to know our Province has such a keen interest in the health and vitality of their capital city. Anyway...
I love this structure. It's too bad that it will likely be left to rot, while in the GoA's care, along with the rest of the site and structures on it.
View attachment 582088View attachment 582090View attachment 582091View attachment 582092View attachment 582094View attachment 582095
Click to expand...
They should really move this. Better than 95% of the public art in our city. Put it somewhere it can be appreciated.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top