UPEI institute asks province to wait on artifactory

The P.E.I. government should wait for more public input before moving the facility that holds the province's artifacts, says the Institute of Island Studies.

The University of Prince Edward Island-based institute is arranging a series of public meetings to discuss a proposal to move the artifactory from Charlottetown to Murray River, in the premier's home riding.

"Much of what is in the museum storage facility now has been donated by regular Islanders," Irene Novaczek, director of the institute, told CBC News Monday.

"We would imagine that anyone who has donated an artifact to the provincial system, or who was thinking of it, would be interested in having some input."

The artifactory is used to store— but not display— provincial artifacts. The move will cost about $4 million. The current artifactory is leaky and overcrowded, putting some artifacts at risk.

The decision to move the artifactory to Murray River has been controversial, with some historians and former museum staff arguing what the province really needs is a new provincial museum where the artifacts can be displayed. They also want to see it built in Charlottetown.

The institute has invited members of the provincial government, including Premier Pat Binns, to attend the public forums. While the meetings are being held to hear what the public thinks, the Institute of Island Studies has already made up its mind.

"We would like to see [the move] reconsidered in light of the many things that a museum can do, the absence of a central provincial museum of natural history and culture, and what the move of the artifact storage to Murray River would mean in terms of future development of the museum system," said Novaczek.

The first meeting is Wednesday at the Murphy Community Centre in Charlottetown. Other meetings will be held in Miscouche on March 8, and in St. Peters March 13.

Novaczek says the results will be written in a report and forwarded to the premier.