Talks to relocate the Maritime Museum of B.C. to the CPR Steamship Terminal have stalled, and landlord Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has decided it must seek another tenant to protect its finances.
The museum’s chief executive officer said he is “more disappointed than panicked” by the news. “We’ve been around for over 60 years and we’ll re-group and re-focus. We have had interest from other jurisdictions, but we would very much like to keep the collection in Victoria,” Clay Evans said.
The museum has been homeless since Oct. 21, when the province requested it vacate longtime premises in Bastion Square, citing safety concerns in the old courthouse building that were disputed by Victoria Coun. Pam Madoff.
The failure to come to a decision on new premises, even after months of negotiations on the Steamship site, is “slowly sucking the life out of the MMBC, its society, staff, volunteers and members that have been looking after this collection, on behalf of all British Columbians, for over 60 years,” Evans said via email.
He said that the Inner Harbour Steamship Terminal is a heritage landmark that is a well-suited site and would have given the museum a waterfront location. The building is owned by the province, which has an agreement to receive many millions in rent from the harbour authority over the next 20 years.
Ian Robertson, the new harbour authority CEO, said multiple missed deadlines in negotiations and no answer to his question as to whether there will even be a lease proposal for the building led him to consider other tenants. “We’re losing money on the building, based on our lease agreement with the province, so we kind of need to move forward and seek out other solutions.”
Robertson said he is still hopeful the province will ensure the museum is the long-term tenant for 6,000 square feet inside the building and 1,200 square feet of water space, but it’s now vacant, along with other space in the building.
“It’s not about making money on the maritime museum lease — it’s about being able to break even,” Robertson said.
There are three ministries involved with the museum, which receives roughly $90,000 a year from the province.
Negotiations are ongoing, said a spokeswoman for the B.C. Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, adding the issue is finding “an appropriate location” affordable to the non-profit museum. She could not answer whether the negotiations are specific to the CPR building.
Meanwhile, the province is paying $10,000 a month for staff and to store thousands of the museum’s artifacts, she said.
Until the museum hears a direct “no” from the province or the harbour authority, Evans said, museum staff will continue to pursue $1.5 million worth of grants related to the Steamship proposal. Such grants depend on the museum having a home.
“It would be a very sad day indeed for the MMBC, the city and the province if such an excellent opportunity was lost due to the inability at some level for a decision to be made.”
