Supporters of the North Vancouver Museum and Archives are hopeful they’ve found a new home for a revamped museum on the City of North Vancouver’s waterfront.
The Museum and Archives commission is now seeking a new location on the first floor of a mixed-use residential tower proposed for Site 8, the lot between Carrie Cates Court and West Esplanade.
Council nixed the original plans to put a new museum in the Shipyards’ historic Pipe Shop building in January over concerns the museum would operate at too much of a loss for taxpayers to bear.
“After the disappointing decision about the Pipe Shop in January, we sat back and we started to think about what other potential sites might there be. We had some criteria in terms of location – being accessible to transit, being near the water and central and also size. There wasn’t a very long list,” said Sanford Osler, commission chairman. “We thought this could be a fit. Let’s see if they’re interested.”
Developer Polygon has applied to build a 12-storey tower there. If council agrees to the new location, the project will grow by 1.5 storeys to accommodate a 14,000-square foot space for the museum, which will be owned by the city, accessible off Esplanade.
The city made the new proposal public at Monday night’s council meeting.
“It would be in the Lower Lonsdale area. It would be part of the greater Shipyards precinct. It would be right across form the entrance to the Lonsdale Quay so it would still have good tourist traffic and it would represent a second cultural facility in the Shipyards area,” said Coun. Don Bell, introducing the plan.
New to the proposal would be placing the historic Streetcar 153, the 1908 trolley that ran up and down Lonsdale until the late 1940s, in the lobby. It was fully restored in the 1990s and has been in storage under the stadium at Mahon Park.
Though council was largely receptive to the new location, there are lingering concerns about the museum’s finances and how the public may feel about the entire project.
“I haven’t seen any numbers that are any different than what we’ve seen before. Coming from business, I really am concerned about being able to sustain this museum,” said Coun. Holly Back. “I’m not saying we don’t need a museum. We absolutely need a museum but I do think we have to put a business plan together.”
And the public may still present concerns about the project, Back pointed out.
“I’m sure it will come up in the public hearing with the height of the building. I know we have issues already with that,” she said.
In an interview, museum director Nancy Kirkpatrick said organizers are beginning work on a new business and architectural plan – and that moving into a new building should greatly decrease operating and capital costs. The new plans should be available for public scrutiny in June, before a public hearing on the project.
Osler said he hopes the community will be receptive.
“Yes, we understand some people won’t be happy with the extra height, but hopefully, on balance, the community will feel this is a good thing,” he said. “This is something that we believe will be a great asset for the community. It will be a modern museum, centrally located that will really help build and connect our community; and for visitors, it will be a great gateway to North Vancouver.”
If approved, the museum would open in late 2018 or early 2019, capping almost 30 years of planning, Kirkpatrick said. “There have been over the decades, literally, hundreds and hundreds of community volunteers who have worked on a new museum project. This goes back to the 1980s,” she said. “We are really thrilled and the people who have been working on this for a long, long time are really thrilled that maybe, finally, this time all that hard work is going to pay off.”
