P.E.I. provincial museum needed now, says Nature PEI president
CBC News | Posted: December 29, 2015 1:49 PM | Last Updated: December 29, 2015
Prince Edward Islanders have been waiting more than 100 years for a museum, says Nature PEI president
New federal infrastructure money should be used to build a provincial museum, says the president of Nature PEI.
Rosemary Curley is calling on the province to commit part of the promised federal infrastructure dollars to building a human and natural history museum.
"We've longed for one for many a year and no government has delivered as they should have," said Curley.
"Governments have shirked their responsibility over the years, and I don't mean just in the last 20 years. I don't point the finger at any one particular government. It is for over 100 years that government has steadfastly ignored this."
A museum would allow things like fossilized reptile footprints, hundreds of millions years old and recently donated to the P.E.I. Museum Foundation, to be displayed.
A museum has been discussed for decades, with commitments sometimes made by provincial governments but not acted on.
Curley noted a new museum of natural history in B.C., unveiled five years ago, had a price tag of $40 million. She believes a capital campaign could raise that amount for an Island museum.