Ideas for potential new uses of the original Royal Alberta Museum building were tossed about during an open house forum in Edmonton.
The museum is moving into its new downtown location that will open in late 2017. The original building, located on 102 Avenue in the Glenora neighbourhood, will soon be vacant.
On Tuesday night, a local advocacy group met with government officials to discuss what might happen with the almost 50-year-old building.
Many feel the location is ideal for a national Aboriginal museum or a community hub for artists. However, the building is in poor condition and about 50 million dollars in maintenance work is required to make it suitable for re-use.
The option of demolishing the building and turning it into a public green space was also discussed, as the annual cost to operate the aging building is over 2 million dollars.
The transition to the new building will take some time, so a final decision won't be made about the old building until at least 2019.
