Historical artifacts to get new home

GATINEAU

OTTAWA • Many of the country’s priceless historical artifacts — and millions of other assorted bits — will be getting a new home just outside of Ottawa, Parks Canada announced Tuesday.

The federal agency responsible for managing the country’s archeological heritage released the design for a new storage facility to house 25 million historical and archeological artifacts in their care.

The collection, which encompasses 11,000 years of human history, includes historical costumes, pre-contact Indigenous hunting tools, and ancient household objects.

Most of it, though, is stone chips from tools, shards of centuries-old ceramics and glass, nails and other fragmentary material. While not particularly exciting for the public, those artifacts are a valuable resource for researchers. All told, the collection includes 31 million objects.

And right now, 60 per cent of the collection is at risk, Parks Canada said.

The items in Parks Canada’s care that are not already displayed in parks or historic sites are held in six storage facilities in Winnipeg; Ottawa and Cornwall, Ont.; Quebec City; and Dartmouth, N.S. The facilities in all those cities except Dartmouth, Parks Canada said, do not meet the environmental and security standards set for the protection of the materials they hold.

The new 8,200-squaremetre building to be constructed in Gatineau, Que., will provide modern climate control and protection, as well as easier access for researchers and the public, Parks Canada said.

The agency said the building, a joint project by two architectural firms, is designed specifically to preserve the objects for the benefit of future generations.

About a sixth of the square-footage in the facility will be reserved for research and staff space, as well as for receptions and ceremonies. The purpose is to ensure Canadians maintain access to the collection after it is centralized near the capital.

Any objects currently on display across the country will stay there, Parks Canada said.

A review of the collection to determine which objects are worth moving will also take place, the agency said, while cautioning that such a review is a normal activity in collection institutions.

Construction is estimated to begin in spring 2020.