Premier Pat Binns today met with members of the Northumberland Community Development Corporation, members of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and members of the Murray River Community Council to discuss plans for a new provincial museum storage facility.
The new building will replace the current storage facility in West Royalty Industrial Park which lacks adequate space to safely store and maintain the provincial collection of Island artifacts. A new museum storage facility has been a priority of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation for a number of years.
The facility in Murray River will help ensure the safe storage of over 80,000 Island artifacts in the provincial collection and will complement the many heritage and museum sites located across PEI.
“We look forward to our new home in Murray River where we can safely preserve and store these important artifacts of Island history. Included will be a 1500-square-foot space where the public can view changing exhibitions featuring historic materials from the collection,” said Dr. Satadal Dasgupta, Chair of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation.
The 30,000 sq. ft. building will be owned and operated by the Northumberland Community Development Corporation (NCDC). PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation will lease 25,000 sq. ft for the museum storage facility while the remaining 5,000 sq. ft. will be leased to businesses. Jamie Richards, chair of NCDC, said the community is very excited with the development.
“This new development will offer a rebirth for the main street in Murray River and should be a good shot in the arm to enhance tourism and attract new businesses to our area,” said Mr. Richards. “This is a very positive announcement, not just for eastern PEI, but for all of PEI.”