New Brunswick Museum on track for 2028 opening
Two years away from the projected opening, the New Brunswick Museum’s capital campaign keeps rolling along.
The campaign committee held a small event Tuesday to provide an update on the progress.
NBM board chair Tracy Clinch said the campaign has secured $19.5 million in pledges and public commitments toward its $35-million goal.
“That 19.5 million is largely major donors and we’re not finished yet,” Clinch said.
Honorary campaign chair Jim Irving said there have been hundreds of smaller donations as well, $10 and $20, from people across the province.
“We’re coming in on the last piece,” Irving said. “Which is maybe the toughest piece because we’ve been around town and around the province and around everywhere looking for money and we’ve had great response.”
NBM chief operating officer Brent Suttie said the construction on Douglas Avenue is about 10 per cent complete, with 15 per cent of the tendering process finished.
“If you’re new to the project, those numbers may not seem large, but in context they represent extraordinary progress in a short amount of time,” Suttie said.
Suttie said the museum will be a “grand public space” when complete.
“Museums are much more than what they traditionally were, places to tell stories,” he said. “People can come in and recreate in there.
“It really is trying to be that hub for students and for the public who are interested in not only their history, but science and technology, innovation, those things as well.”
Economist David Campbell provided a report, detailing the economic impact of the build project as well as the longer-term impact of the museum on the province’s economy.
Campbell said the report was based on a $145-million investment, which he said may be the largest investment in a cultural institution in New Brunswick’s history.
“Just an impressive amount of capital being deployed here in the city of Saint John,” he said.
Campbell said the spending during the construction phase should add approximately $87.5 million to the province’s gross domestic product, as well as support nearly 1,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Campbell said the construction phase will generate an estimated $59.3 million in labour income, mostly in the Saint John region, along with $13 million in provincial and local tax revenue and another $8 million in federal tax revenue.
Once the museum resumes operations in 2028, Campbell said it’s estimated it will contribute about $9 to $10 million to the provincial GDP annually, along with about $2 million in local and provincial tax revenue.
The museum remains on track for a 2028 opening, with Suttie setting a goal of late spring.
