Save the old RAM: Task force fights demolition of former Royal Alberta Museum building

A task unit has been created to prevention the aged Royal Alberta Museum gathering successful Glenora.

The erstwhile depository is acceptable to beryllium demolished to marque mode for a caller greenish abstraction surrounding the adjacent Government House, on 102 Avenue atop Groat Road.

The provincial depository opened successful 1967 to observe Canada’s centennial and received royal designation and renaming during a sojourn by Queen Elizabeth II successful 2005, to people the province’s 100th anniversary.

The gathering is constructed with marble from Ontario, granite from Quebec, and decorated with past Indigenous petroglyphs.

The new, overmuch bigger Royal Alberta Museum opened successful downtown Edmonton successful 2018, pursuing a years-long determination and setup of the caller exhibits.

The archetypal determination closed to the nationalist astatine the extremity of 2015 — when the RAM held a 48-hour nonstop disconnected party. The depository was unfastened astir the clock, allowing radical to get a last look astatine the then-48-year-old facility.

Since all the exhibits and artifacts successful retention were moved retired successful 2016 and 2017, the gathering has languished bare for the amended portion of a decade.

Last summer, the state announced it present has a day with the wrecking ball.

The Alberta authorities estimated it spends implicit $700,000 annually connected operating and attraction costs connected the bare building, and the outgo of demolishing the aged RAM gathering volition beryllium determination betwixt $22 cardinal and $48 million.

The Alberta Ministry of Infrastructure claims the gathering needs implicit $200 cardinal successful repairs and has nary applicable use, justifying its demolition.

“All captious systems including heating, ventilation, aerial conditioning, electrical, and h2o systems are good past beingness expectancy and necessitate extended attraction oregon replacement,” a connection from the ministry said.

Even with important investment, the authorities said galore areas of the gathering necessitate demolition owed to structural issues and contamination from hazardous materials.

But the ‘Save the Old RAM’ task unit is calling for a moratorium to research alternate possibilities.

On Valentine’s Day, the task unit plans to spot hearts connected the operation fencing that present surrounds the aged RAM, to amusement their emotion for the historical structure.

Watch the video supra for much information. 

— With files from Karen Bartko and Phil Heidenreich, Global News