Underground parking plans at Museum scrapped
Posted Nov 17, 2011 07:03:31 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Underground parking at the Canadian Museum of Nature would make visiting the museum easier by car, but the federal government has scrapped plans to fund the museum for underground parking.
Somerset ward councillor Diane Holmes said Wednesday she is disappointed by the museum’s decision saying additional surface parking would be costly and reduce the amount of green space in the downtown core.
The Canadian Museum of Nature is the only downtown museum that does not have underground parking.
“We have a government at the moment that is not interested in culture, they’re interested in de-funding culture,” Holmes said.
The lawn adjacent to O’Connor street is where the museum wants to add 15 more parking spots, upgrading from the 96 spaces they currently have on the building’s east side.
The estimated underground parking which is estimated to cost more than $10-million is not in the cards said President Meg Beckel. She also said surface parking would cost a fraction of that.
The parking expansion to both the east and west lots are in the long term vision of the museum but Beckel said it wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
