A $204.8-million contract has been awarded for a major project that will see the Royal BC Museum build an important new facility in the City of Colwood.
 
Construction is expected to begin this summer on the museum’s Collections and Research Building as part of a long-term plan to protect the Province’s collections, including more than seven million artifacts and the BC Archives. Total capital project costs for the building are valued at more than $270 million. The project is being undertaken in consultation with the Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation.
 
The state-of-the-art facility will be 163,611 square feet and use mass timber construction to safely house the Province’s collections, BC Archives and research departments. There will also be dedicated research labs and learning spaces.
 
“Alongside the safe and modern storage of the collections and provincial records, the (Collections and Research Building) will be a dynamic and welcoming community space,” RBCM CEO said Alicia Dubois said. “We hope to inspire future paleontologists, entomologists, botanists and historians through greater learning opportunities by enhancing public access to our work.”
 
The new building will provide a secure location for a number of items that had been at risk, such as: archival books and manuscripts; rare and priceless artworks, including watercolours from the 1700s; several paintings by Emily Carr; and early provincial maps.