Edmonton Heritage Council - City Museum Plan

The City of Edmonton is one of Canada’s fastest-growing big cities. As the capital of the Province of Alberta and one of the most diverse places in Western Canada, the city is home to numerous provincial institutions and agencies. It has a well-developed cultural infrastructure, with as many as 32 museums, and is becoming known for its arts and culture throughout Canada.

Edmonton’s 2008 cultural master plan, The Art of Living: A Plan for Securing the Future of Arts and Heritage in the City of Edmonton lays out the state of culture in the city and makes several recommendations for leveraging and developing culture for the benefit of all citizens. The Edmonton Heritage Council (EHC) emerged from that plan. A relatively new organization, the Heritage Council is charged with representing the heritage community in the city and increase residents’ awareness of their heritage endowment.

In early 2012 the EHC asked Lord Cultural Resources to assist in achieving two initiatives mandated in The Art of Living document:

• A comprehensive museums strategy for the City’s many museum institutions;
• And the development of a strategy for a new City of Edmonton museum.

Lord’s study, completed in October 2012, looks at collections, concepts, site and facilities for a new City Museum. Assessment of existing facilities and proposed sites, establishment of space requirements, and development and costing of options for new construction vs renovation, provide a blueprint of the way forward in decisions making for a new cultural institution which will be a “hub” for enhancement of many of the city’s existing museum institutions.