Councillor hopes to revive cancelled North Vancouver museum project
Posted February 15, 2016 8:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Supporters of a new home for the North Vancouver museum are expected to be out in full force at City Hall tonight.
A pair of motions aimed at reviving the project will go before council.
A plan to move the museum to the historic Pipe Shop building on the Lonsdale waterfront was voted down last month and Councillor Don Bell has submitted a motion for there to be a public meeting to explain why.
“I’m not formally asking for reconsideration of the Pipe Shop. I would like that,” he admits.
“But I believe that because the people put so much energy and hard work — thousands of hours by volunteers — I believe those people deserve that out of respect for the effort they did.”
On January 25th, council voted against moving the museum to the Pipe Shop, citing a report by the accounting firm BDO that it wouldn’t be profitable.
Bell argues that kind of misses the point.
“Museums are not profitable. They’re subsidized in all municipalities,” he points out.
“They are part of the cultural fabric of the community. They are a way of providing culture and experience to the community.”
Bell says the concept wasn’t intended to be a traditional museum anyway. “It’s really more of a history and discovery centre.”
His other motion calls for city staff along with the museum to work together on finding an alternate site accessible by vehicle, public transit, SeaBus, and walking.
