The North Vancouver Museum and Archives (NVMA) is opening a new museum in the Lower Lonsdale Shipyards District across the street from the Polygon Gallery, adjacent to Lonsdale Quay and very close to The Shipyards. The museum will be on the bottom floor of the new Promenade building by Polygon developers and sit at street level on Esplanade and be very close to the base of Lonsdale Avenue. Which will be awesome for boosting local tourism and foot traffic in the area and definitely benefit the community.
As the layout for the new museum is at street level and surrounded by glass windows you will be able to see inside from outside to check out the historical items on display, however going inside and seeing things up close and personal is always best. The entrance lobby will be where the famous and well known Streetcar 153 will be setup and entirely restored and when you walk further inside from there you will find the permanent and temporary display areas. Some of the museum artifacts will be on display permanently while other spaces will rotate what is on display for changing experiences. City Hall and other stakeholders have spent many years doing studies on the area and what would work best for the museum so expect something great.
The new museum located at 115 West Esplanade is about 16,000 square feet and has a garden area and community hub spaces for meetings and community discussions. The intention is to make things as welcoming and accommodating as possible to maximize the use of the facilities. On top of this there will be child focused learning areas and a gift shop for the needs of tourists coming to the area.
Recently the director of the NVMA retired and was replaced by Wes Wenhardt who is the new director and getting things up and running at the facilities in Lower Lonsdale. As well last year some very special items were stolen and we are hoping you can help to locate them and bring them back to the local museum as they were used for educational historical walks and tours in and around the Burrard Dry Dock and Wallace Shipyards.
We are every excited for the opening of this new museum in North Vancouver as it will compliment the neighbourhood very much and really bring a lot of depth and substance to the cultural vibes that we all share. Who would have thought many years ago how awesome Lower Lonsdale would become.
Download the PDF for more info about the NVMA location opening soon.
You can contact Wes Wenhardt who is the director at 604.990.3700 ext 8001 or by emailing wenhardtw@dnv.org as well as you can contact Victor Elderton who is the Chair at 604.990.3700 ext 8002 or email nvmac@dnv.org.
