Dear Editor:
Re: North Vancouver Says Bon Voyage to Maritime Relic (Feb 13)
In preparing for an exciting new museum at The Shipyards (opening in 2017), our museum must bid adieu to many artifacts collected in decades past.
The 11-ton tugboat engine is certainly the largest, but by the time our downsizing project ends we will have deaccessioned several thousand more objects.
Costs to store and preserve artifacts are significant, so museums everywhere are making hard choices about what to keep. By deaccessioning objects that aren’t central to our mandate and won’t be exhibited in the new museum, we’ll free up space and funds to ensure the remaining collection is used effectively and stored properly.
Then we can focus our resources on creating an innovative, 21st century waterfront museum with interactive exhibits that will engage residents and visitors alike.
Nancy Kirkpatrick
Director, North Vancouver Museum & Archives
