New ‘Save the old RAM’ task force calls to suspend demolition of former Edmonton museum

The former Royal Alberta Museum building has sat empty in Edmonton’s Glenora neighbourhood for almost a decade, and the province has it slated for demolition.

But a new group of concerned citizens are hoping to save the building before it’s too late.

Author Stuart Adams is part of the new ‘Save the Old RAM’ task force that was formed in December.

“Instead of tearing it down and turning it into park space, if you look behind you that’s the largest urban park space in North America. And to turn this into park space adjacent to it is beyond silly and that’s me being charitable,” said Adams.

The province announced in August, they would be tearing down the building.

Among those trying to save it, is world-renowned paleontologist Philip Currie. He says since the museum was decommissioned in 2015, there hasn’t been enough space to store fossils in Alberta.

“You do need space, whether it’s small specimens in cabinets and things like that or a very big specimen like dinosaurs. Ultimately you would like to display at least one percent of your collection,” Currie explained.

CityNews reached out to Alberta’s Infrastructure Ministry, and a spokesperson said they are still committed to redeveloping the site into a greenspace.

“We have received unsolicited proposals for the redevelopment of the building, which are under review. However, any subsequent decision to change course on the old RAM would result in our issuing a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEOI), which is an arms-length, public procurement process,” read the statement.

The province is in the process of preparing the building for demolition, removing asbestos and other harmful material.

The cost to repurpose the building and bring it up to code will be up to $200 million.

But Adams argues that if the government wants to save taxpayer money, repurposing it by a developer would be a way to go.

“You don’t want to demolish it because that’s going to cost you more than handing it over to a developer who will absorb all those costs. All the repairs, all the remediation and they would actually install — use the theatre — all the facilities and install some new facilities,” Adams explained.

While there is still no final date for the demolition, Adams hopes to at least see historical artifacts like the petroglyphs on the exterior of the museum saved.

“This is a crown jewel in Canada’s and Alberta’s centennial celebration.”