North Vancouver Needs a New Museum

After 35 years, North Vancouver’s small museum in the Presentation House Arts Centre continues to operate today in less than 5,000 square feet of space.

Our current location is cramped, inefficient and the outmoded facility inhibits us from connecting with the community to our fullest potential. We need more resources to provide for exhibit galleries, school visits, exhibit preparation and hosting community gatherings and activities.

Community Hub -- A Sense of Place

With the right kind of facility in the right location – a setting where the community is welcome and encouraged to participate – we will be able to realize our full potential as steward of our collective past and expand our engagement with residents and visitors.

We want to engage, strengthen and inspire our community by exploring history, connecting people and sharing ideas. The new museum’s role as a “Community Hub” will foster a sense of place and promote dialogue about important issues in the community. It will welcome community members to experience museum exhibits, participate in programs, and take advantage of shared space with community partners, commercial and other retail operations.

As a “Community Hub” a new museum would:

• Be accessible, inclusive and welcoming to all, and will contribute to building a healthy, diverse, and sustainable community;
• Offer dynamic programming by using our collections, exhibits, and programs as catalysts to create dialogue, generate meaning, and connect community members;
• Offer education programs that are central to all that the Museum does;
• Provide multipurpose space as well as indoor and outdoor gathering places for community use; and,
• Seek input from visitors, colleagues and communities while working in partnership with community members and organizations to exchange skills, knowledge and resources.

Next Steps

Community input indicates there is strong support for the Museum to expand from its traditional mandate and provide a place to share environmental, economic and social dimensions of the North Vancouver story.

For close to 20 years, the Museum has been planning for a new museum. We are currently working with potential partners as well as City of North Vancouver staff to identify new opportunities around the museum’s relocation. We expects to present best options to the community for feedback in early 2011.

Download the fact sheet to learn more about the need for a new museum in North Vancouver.