Plan, Pack and Move

Preservation manager Lesley Golding examines a painting in preparation for the move to the new building.

The Royal BC Museum Prepares for the Move of a Lifetime

By Sandra Hudson

Communications Consultant

As the excitement builds at the Royal BC Museum for the new Collections and Research Building in Colwood, so too does the amount of preparatory work. The move teams are now engaged in the planning stage of the Plan, Pack and Move project, working toward 2024 and the relocation of collections to the incredible new 14,000square-metre facility.

The museum has engaged two specialized consultants, both with a wealth of knowledge in facilities project management and moving complex organizations, to lead the process. Lyn Archdekin has more than 30 years experience as a move manager and consultant. She is currently working on the move of Calgary’s Glenbow Museum and has previously worked on moves for the Calgary Public Library and the Moose Jaw Union and High Prairie Hospitals. Local firm Spatial Logistics are the projectmanagement specialists of the move team. Team lead Jeff Head has worked on many large moves, including consolidating all departments of the City of Red Deer from 12 buildings into 2. Also on the Spatial Logistics team is Shannon Rae, who has specialized experience in moving art pieces, gained while working for Gulf Canada and overseeing the move of their vast art collection from Denver to Calgary.

Museum staff are already busy preparing for the move. Ember Lundgren, acting head of Collections Care and Conservation, has been working with the consultants on the planning phase, as well as working with staff on the huge task of preparing collections for the transfer. As with any move, the first step is to identify any items that will not be travelling. In the case of the museum, that means that collections managers are working with curators and archivists to ensure that everything in the collection (not to mention items acquired but not yet accessioned) meets the mandate of

The bird’s-eye view of the future location of the Royal BC Museum Collections and Research Building within the Royal Bay Development in Colwood.

Artworks from the Paintings, Drawings and Prints collection hang in the museum’s climate-controlled vault. Planning for the move means taking the needs of each piece into account. Many of the objects in the museum’s collections have irregular shapes and sizes, which means logistical challenges for the pack-and-move teams.

the museum and archives. In some cases, items may be deaccessioned and transferred to another museum, university, archive, gallery or historical association in order to better serve the community.

Work is also under way to update how the collections of both the BC Archives and the museum are tracked and stored. Beginning with the 130,000 volumes in the BC Provincial Library, items are being barcoded, which will allow for more efficient item tracking during exhibitions and loans. At the same time, the Digital team is working to update all of the information in the museum and archives databases. These updates will allow better access for researchers, curators and those looking to explore from home.

The packing plan now being developed will ensure that each item in the museum’s collection, from the smallest insect to the largest painting, will be accounted for. We estimate that packing the collections from the Fannin Tower will take 9 to 12 months, and the move itself approximately six to eight weeks. The move of the BC Archives will take approximately four weeks. It takes a while to move over seven million artifacts and specimens, as well as 28 kilometres of archival records!

Consultants Jeff Head and Lyn Archdekin have called the move to the new Collections and Research Building “challenging, fascinating, exciting and the project of a lifetime.”

Learn more at rbcm.ca/modernization.