Proponents of a combined Indigenous and Maritime Museum attraction on the Inner Harbour revealed more details of the plan at an event at the site on Thursday.
A floating Indigenous welcome centre and exhibit would be 15,000 square feet, while the adjacent Maritime Museum of B.C. would be housed in 21,000 square feet in the historic CPR Steamship Terminal building.
The “Future of History” proposal, which would cost an estimated $40 million, is a partnership between the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations and the museum, which has been seeking a permanent home for decades and is currently in the Victoria Conference Centre.
The partners said in a joint statement that the proposal wouldn’t just be a showcase for artifacts — it would “reshape how coastal history is presented.”
“The idea behind the project is to present a more comprehensive account of Victoria’s history, where the narratives of Indigenous and settler experiences stand side-by-side.”
The nearly 70-year old museum has nothing representing First Nations in it, said Angus Matthews, a member of the board. “There is a whole story that isn’t being told.”
Museum board president Jamie Webb said the Steamship building has struggled to find its purpose and best role as a publicly owned community asset. The Indigenous building would be located on a floating structure at the provincial water lot now being used as a temporary dock by FRS Clipper ferry.
The goal is to open the Future of History in 2029, after the Belleville Terminal redevelopment, budgeted at $303.9 million, is completed next door.
Drawings show the Indigenous centre would include teaching space, canoe workshop areas, mooring for canoes, and spiritual and community gathering areas.
The building would tell the history of the Lekwungen people who once lived in villages around the harbour, said Esquimalt First Nation Chief Jerome Thomas.
It’s important for visitors to learn about the past but also for “people who actually live here to know our story,” he said, adding the attraction would also provide employment for members of the nations.
Songhees Chief Ron Sam said the harbour “was our economy. It was our way of life. I see this as being able to broaden that story and bring it out to the general public.”
A working group with representatives from the nations and museum has been established.
The museum has $1 million set aside, Matthews said, and the goal is to raise $38 million split among three sources: a local fundraising campaign, corporate sponsors and the federal government.
Project proponents hope the province will contribute the use of the terminal building and the water lot.
The endeavour has won support from a range of local interests, including tourism, business and museum organizations as well as proponents of Indigenous economic development and reconciliation.
Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, said the proposal would bring “new energy” to the Inner Harbour.
Murray Farmer, chair of the museum’s council of navigators, a team of volunteers focusing on the local fundraising component, called it a “project of reconciliation that will have immense community appeal.”
“Located in the heart of the Inner Harbour, where it belongs, near the traditional Lekwungen village sites, where they dwelt and prospered for over 10,000 years, it will complete the story of maritime life on the coast that we now all share,” Farmer said.
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