Advocate group stands up for the original Royal Alberta Museum

Some significant Albertans have added their names to the list of those who want to save the old museum. David Ewasuk reports.

Some Alberta communities have formed a task force to ask the provincial government to consider alternatives to demolishing the original Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) building.

Those involved in the task force include Alberta’s arts, First Nations, Métis, architectural and historical communities. They banded together to ask the government for a chase to speak about the building’s future.

Their pleas have gone unanswered.

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Douglas Cardinal, a world famous architect born in Calgary, recently threw his support behind the task force.

“Newness is not always better than … something of the past. It’s always worth preserving, because I think it shows a sign of maturity, that you have enough pride in your own history … that you want to preserve it,” he said.

“This place here has a very special spirit to it because of the stories that rested here. Our history is really important,” said RAM advocate Lewis Cardinal, who also serves as the senior advisor for the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Center.

“It’s the story of Edmontonians who have come here and then who have brought their children here, and this space here becomes sacred in that regard, and we need to protect it.

Philip Currie, a professor of dinosaur palaeobiology at the U of A, also joined the cause as he worked for the museum back in 1976.

“There has to be a way that this building is useful,” said Currie. “It’s in much better shape than our museums and most of the university, and it can certainly house things on a short term basis.”

According to the task force, the Alberta government has not answered any of their pleas to hold a meeting to discuss the building’s future.

The Edmonton-based development firm that spent years finding a solution heard nothing from the government, until they announced the demolition plans last August.

The province says it would cost nearly $200 million to bring the building to code, adding “any subsequent decision to change course on the old RAM would result in our issuing a request for expression of interest.”

“Suddenly, we’re told (the building) has to go – not given a chance to speak for her. That’s why we stand together, because we know she still has much to give,” said Lewis.

The province says the plan is to transform the site into a green space or a park.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s David Ewasuk