Quote:
Originally Posted by trueviking
A museum could be a nice part of the plan. Definitely a small part in the context of 650,000 square foot building. Like half of one floor. This was part of the U of W's scheme.
Metis on one end of the street and Indigenous people on the other side.
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I think a true national centre of Indigenous History, Culture and Language would be significantly larger than "half of one floor". As a point of reference, the CMHR is 260,000 sq ft, just under half the size of the Bay building. Also keep in mind the national centre as I describe it has larger teaching and research roles than CMHR as it would in part be an academic centre of excellence. Further still, the vision includes a library for materials in traditional Indigenous languages.
Yes, it might still be short of the full 650,000 sq ft but there could be other complimentary uses, such as reopening the Paddlewheel as a restaurant featuring Indigenous foods. Some of the unused space could be held in reserve for a future expansion of the centre, sort of similar to how Hotel Fort Garry didn't reopen the building all at once but worked on getting more limited areas open first and them expanding as they went.
Above all else the top challenge is to find someone as quickly as possible that makes sense for a project in the building and get them to take ownership of it, at least in concept, as soon as possible. If someone as a vested interesting in keeping the building secure it will actively work to keep out unauthorized people which could permanently damage or destroy the building.
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