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Business Breaking News
Rights museum build begins April 1
One of the most talked about construction projects in the city’s history — the $265-million Canadian Museum for Human Rights — will get underway on April 1, project officials said today.
The museum’s chief operating officer, Patrick O’Reilly, told about 120 people attending a Winnipeg Realtors Association breakfast meeting that the first visible sign that work is about to get underway will be evident within the next 10 to 14 days when crews begin installing fencing around The Fork’s area construction site.
Site preparation work will take another 30 days or so, O’Reilly said, with the actual start-up of construction slated for April 1 when the first foundation pile will be installed.
O’Reilly said work on the 12-storey structure, which he described as "Canada’s most exciting construction project," should completed in February, 2012.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which was the brainchild of the late Izzy Asper, will be the first national museum built outside the national capital region.
The capital cost of the project is being jointly funded by the three levels of government, which are contributing a total of $160 million, and the private sector.
Asper’s daughter, Gail Asper, national campaign chair of Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, told the meeting that fund-raisers are just $3 million shy of achieving their initial target of $105 million in private sector funding.
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20 Comments
Posted by:rosencrentz@hotmail.com
February 10, 2009 at 6:47 AM
Please stop criticising the negative Loserpegs comments. This is still wintertime and they have a right after being locked up in -30 to -54 degree weather (with windchill) This is a good thing, except it will wear out our streets!
Posted by:rosencrentz@hotmail.com
February 10, 2009 at 6:40 AM
12 storeys- WOW! What perfect timing for job creation and an ongoing $22,000,000 yearly financial stimulus for Winnipeg. Yea Asper's! Great thinking!
Posted by:dogger
February 10, 2009 at 3:13 AM
And of course it's primary objective will be to lobby for free speech, the exchange of intellectual ideas via the internet and the abolition of the "Canadian Human Rights Tribunal/Kangaroo Court". To not do so would make the museum the largest laughing stock on earth.
Posted by:ottawa
February 9, 2009 at 11:14 PM
myviewstyou I think you are missing the point of what a museum is. It's not supposed to be Disneyworld. It's supposed to make you think. Sometimes we need to face things are not that pleasant in order to confront them and learn from them. For example, the Holocaust museum in Washington is very powerful and moving. CHRM will hopefully be just as powerful. Its an educational tool - and it will not all be negative, there are good human rights stories out there, including our own Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Watching TV is something different. By the way, no, no one ever said people would come from all over the world just to see l'Esplanade Riel. Kat, again, it is not a zero sum game, you can spend money on other things too. And in a recession, yes governments do spend money to stimulate the economy and jobs. All governments around the world are doing that right now, including Obama in the States. Might be a good idea to wait until the museum is up and running before passing judgment. Cheers.
Posted by:FRJW
February 9, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Well, gosh,... how great is that!
Posted by:kat
February 9, 2009 at 10:27 PM
I could think of a lot better things to spend that money on in the middle of this recession. I don't think it's feasible or realistic and we don't need it.... we need help to prepare for the coming depression and yes it is coming.
Posted by:Henri
February 9, 2009 at 9:46 PM
April Fools Day... perfect.
Posted by:myViews2U
February 9, 2009 at 9:36 PM
So people will come from all over the world to see a 'museum' that will exhibit the atrocities done to other people? What makes you think that? Why would you travel around the world to go see something that makes you feel bad? Why does someone need to come to a 'museum' to see any of that when they can turn on their TV and see it on the nightly news? It might change the way they act to others you say. Well unfortunately the leaders who orchestrate the pain and misery brought to many people of the world will not come to see this museum. You say lots of people will come to see it. Well in its place can you imagine how many thousands more people would come to, enjoy and leave feeling happy if $265,000,000 and $20,000,000 a year was spent on Assiniboine Park / Zoo and the Museum of Man and Nature! Didn't someone also say that people from all over the world will come to see the Esplanade Riel? I'll bet there were thousands!! Ya right. When I think of the many different and better ways that this money could have been spent I just have to shake my head.
Posted by:David
February 9, 2009 at 9:30 PM
wow, the misinformation contained in just your comments is amazing. First, I believe the article is referring to new museums being built, not museum buildings being rebuilt such as the new war museum. Second, it is no longer an Asper project, this is a national museum just like any of the others in Ottawa - it will run by bureaucrats like all the others with all of our tax dollars, but that's okay, it's a worthy endeavor. - hence yes there will be Palestinian info when warranted The museum is not taking money away from other community groups. This is not a zero sum game. You can do both. It will not be visited just by Winnipeg school children One of the innovative parts of the museum is it will include in its budget programs to bring students and others for human rights training from across Canada. A lot of this stuff is easy to find out if you actually make an effort to read. But then, it's always easy to be negative. Rejoice in what will be a tremendous addition to the city's physical and cultural landscape. Sometimes good things happen folks.
Posted by:b
February 9, 2009 at 8:37 PM
Let's not forget that the tax payers are also going to fund the operating cost of 22 million per year. How many of you knew that.? Edited.
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