Museum complex to expand

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Construction began June 14 on the 4,500 square metre Qay'llnagaay Heritage Centre on the site of the present Haida Gwaii Museum in Skidegate.

Besides doubling the museum's size, five additional buildings will be constructed: an atrium; a performance arts centre; a working space for local artists and carvers; a place to eat, and an administration centre for the Archipelago Management Board, a branch of Parks Canada.

Although it is just up the hill from the B.C. Ferries dock, the present 650 square metre museum is somewhat obscured by evergreens along the highway. A seven-fold expansion of the property will immediately catch the eye of travellers heading to the north end of the island.

The entire complex will take 10 years to build. Acquiring $21.4 million was no small task for islands that only have a population of 5,000. Parks Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada contributed about half the money, and Skidegate council chipped in another $1.7 million.

The relative isolation of the Queen Charlotte Islands means jobs are scarce at the best of times. In the past few years, the area has been under worse economic strain because of environmental issues and other resource problems. Qay'llnagaay will employ 120 construction labourers and after its completion, an estimated 75 to 80 full-time positions witll open up as a result of tourist spin-off activities including a luxury lodge and an RV park.

"Our research indicated many people are looking for the Indigenous experience in Canada," said Robert DuDoward, CEO of the Qay'llnagaay Heritage Society, about the sustainability of this project. "This provides us with an economic light at the end of the tunnel with the job losses in the fishing and logging (industries), albeit it won't be as lucrative."

The museum is expected to be completed in the fall of 2005 with the grand opening scheduled for the summer of 2006.