New North Vancouver Museum Approved by City Council

The City of North Vancouver Council has voted to approve a 16,000 square foot space to house a state-of-the-art museum facility across from the Quay in Lower Lonsdale.

The new North Vancouver Museum and Archives will triple its current space, presently located in the old North Vancouver city hall building. The custom-built facility will be located within City-owned community amenity space at 131 West Esplanade, situated in the Polygon Homes retail/residential development Promenade at the Quay. In addition to the City of North Vancouver's provision of the facility, the project has received a commitment of over $2.5 million from the City as well as a contribution of $3 million of federal funding through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund toward construction costs, professional fees, building systems and collection storage.

The new museum's public spaces will include 5,450 square feet of secure climate-controlled exhibit space and over 3,100 square feet of public activity spaces, including a multi-purpose room and ‘hub’ space for programs. Non public spaces will include over 1,200 square feet of collection management and storage space, 1,400 square feet of staff and administration space, and over 900 square feet of support and maintenance space.

North Vancouver’s Archives will remain in the Community History Centre in Lynn Valley following the opening of the new museum.

The decision comes after many years of work by successive City Councils to find a new home for the museum. City Council rejected a plan earlier in 2016 to relocate the museum into the Pipe Shop at the Shipyards because the museum commission fell short of a $5 million fundraising goal by December 2015, as required by the city.

The new building project will be managed by the City of North Vancouver and community donations will be sought from individuals, businesses, foundations, and the Friends of the North Vancouver Museum and Archives Society to enhance the museum’s exhibits. 

The new museum is slated to open in 2019. Learn about the North Vancouver Museum and Archives at nvma.ca.