Councillor calls on province to step up on New Brunswick Museum project

New Brunswick currently has no functioning provincial museum open to the public,and a Saint John city councillor is calling on the government to step up to change that.

Coun. David Hickey saysthe roof of New Brunswick Museum in Market Square is leaking badly, butthere are no concrete plansfor a replacement building. The museum's boutique and the archives and research library
have also been closed for monthsbecause of COVID-19.

The developers ofthe $24 million Fundy Quay project on Saint John's waterfront have saidthey're open to the idea of including a museum in that project, but have shared no specifics and made no promises.

The former Liberal government under Brian Gallantpromised $50 million for the project. but it was cancelled by the Higgs government four years ago.

Hickey said agood option would be to leverage the Fundy Quay commercial and residential development to include a museum, but that can't go ahead without buy-in from the province.

"Unfortunately with the museum, the province is the driver," he said. "And right now, the car is either stalled on the side of the road or we don't know where it's going."

Not having a museum "stalls our growth," Hickey said.

"It's rather embarrassing to not have that offering," he told Information Morning Saint John.

In an emailed statement, the provincial Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture said the department is working with museum officials to identify a permanent solution.

"We have increased our online presence, and as part of that initiative we have launched a new online boutique. Archival services at Douglas Avenue remain open to the public and to researchers," the statement said.

Museum officials have previously said the museum's aging Douglas Avenue collections centre is running out of room and and has poor ventilation and issues with mould, putting the artifacts at risk.

The department said staff are working on a management project for the museum's heritage items and documents in preparation for a "modernization project."

The statement did not say if the modernization project means the province would update the current facility or build a new one.