Building done, but the big move awaits
Construction on the new Royal Alberta Museum in downtown Edmonton has finished and now begins the task of moving more than two million objects from the old museum.
The $375.5-million museum is expected to open in late 2017.
“Now, we can get to work inside, outfitting the museum’s exhibits,” Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Brian Mason said Tuesday.
Politicians and reporters were given a brief tour of the building, which is expansive, sunny and empty. Some areas are still taped off and construction equipment remains in one room. The exhibits will be moved over the next yearand-a-half, Mason said.
Nine mosaic panels by artist Ernestine Tahedl have been erected on the south side of the building, facing the sidewalk. The panels were recovered from the Canada Post office that used to stand where the museum is now located.
Tahedl, who was on hand at the announcement, said the panels were designed with no theme in mind, just an abstract concept and the hope that they would complement the facade of the building.
The main idea, she said, was simply that people would see something pleasant when they walked along 103A Avenue. Now, as downtown grows and the museum lures people to her murals, even more people will get to see them.
The panels, which stand more than 31/2 metres tall and weigh more than 2,700 kilograms, had to be broken up and re-assembled on the new site.
“I didn’t believe it would happen; I was over the moon,” Tahedl said.
The work was originally finished in October 1965. Tahedl said she’s proud of how well it has held up artistically.
“When you are 25, you don’t even think about the next day. I probably lucked out.”
Mason said there won’t be a decision soon on plans for the old museum site or building, mainly because the focus is moving the exhibits to the new museum.
“We’ve heard from people that they consider (the old museum building) to be a landmark, ” Mason said.