After years of anticipation, the Royal Alberta Museum in downtown Edmonton is finally open.
The 82,000-square-foot facility is about twice the size of the old museum in Glenora.
The doors to the museum opened on Wednesday, but if you weren’t able to make it down for the grand opening, we have you covered with dozens of pictures and several videos of each of the exhibition spaces.
From the Human History and Natural History halls, to the children’s gallery and the bug room, here is a look inside the $375.5-million Royal Alberta Museum.
Lobby
Watch below: Take a tour of the Royal Alberta Museum’s lobby
As soon as you walk into the museum, you’re greeted by a massive Albertosaurus. High atop the dinosaur hangs a 1918 biplane.
The focal point of the lobby is the reinforced concrete feature staircase. Construction workers and designers worked around the clock for 25 weeks to come up with the vision for the staircase.
Of course, the bright space is also home to a gift shop.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the lobby.
Human History Hall
Watch below: Take a tour through the Royal Alberta Museum’s Human History Hall
The first floor of the museum is home to many exhibits, including the 29,100-square-foot Human History Hall. This space is meant to take visitors back to Alberta’s earliest peoples and tell the stories of who we are and where we came from.
As soon as you walk into the hall, you come upon two sacred stones which are part of the Ancestral Lands gallery. Because of their sacred nature, visitors are asked not to take pictures or videos of the stones.
The hall encompasses six galleries, including one entirely dedicated to the pickup truck and how the vehicle helped transform the province after 1945.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the Human History Hall.
Bug Gallery
Watch below: Take a tour through the Royal Alberta Museum’s Bug Gallery
Also on the main floor of the museum is the Bug Gallery. As soon as you walk into the room you can feel the humidity, as the space is temperature controlled for the hundreds of live invertebrates that call the area home.
From northern paper wasps and velvet ants to African chafer beetles and black widow spiders, there is no shortage of local and exotic invertebrates to get up close and personal with.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the Bug Gallery.
Children’s Gallery
Watch below: Take a tour through the Royal Alberta Museum’s Children’s Gallery
Designed with kids eight years old and younger, the Children’s Space offers kids a hands-on learning space.
The 7,000-square-foot room is home to all kinds of fun activities for kids, including an interactive dig pit and a theatre.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the Children’s Gallery.
Natural History Hall
Watch below: Take a tour through the Royal Alberta Museum’s Natural History Hall
The second floor of the museum is home to the Natural History Hall, a 30,000-square-foot space that houses four galleries.
It’s in this section of the museum that you can take a journey back in time to the Ice Age, discovering animals and plants that lived in Alberta thousands of years ago.
This hall is home to a massive Columbian mammoth, as well as eight of the dioramas that were on display at the old Royal Alberta Museum. They are complemented by nine new dioramas.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the Natural History Hall.
Gems and Minerals of the World gallery
Watch below: Take a tour through the Royal Alberta Museum’s Gems and Minerals of the World gallery
The Natural History Hall is also home to the Gems and Minerals of the World gallery.
In this area, you can see a meteorite up close, discover how crystals grow and explore the beauty of rubies, diamonds and emeralds.
Scroll through the gallery below to see pictures of the Gems and Minerals of the World gallery.
Manitou Asinîy (Manitou Stone)
Manitou Asinîy is of great spiritual significance to Indigenous peoples in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
It is located in a stand-alone space on the second floor of the museum and is designed to encourage reflection and quiet discussion.
Because it is sacred, pictures or video are not allowed in this area of the museum.
Watch below: The Manitou Stone is just one way Indigenous culture is showcased at the new museum. As Sarah Kraus explains, the stories of Alberta’s aboriginal people are woven throughout the entire building.
Feature Gallery
The Royal Alberta Museum’s 12,000-square-foot Feature Gallery is not yet open to the public.
The area will be used to feature new international exhibitions.
The first exhibit in this area is scheduled to open in spring 2019. No details on what the exhibit is have been released.
Watch below: Excited visitors lined up outside the Royal Alberta Museum Wednesday as the brand new facility opened its doors for the first time.
Watch below: The new Royal Alberta Museum is not just about history; it’s also about the stories and the people that make Alberta what it is. Vinesh Pratap has more on stories of contemporary Alberta.
Museum Zone
The Royal Alberta Museum is dedicated to showing visitors a bit of the work that goes on behind the scenes, including conservation and research.
The Museum Zone provides a glimpse at the visible conservation labs within the building.
Watch below: Take a glimpse behind the scenes at the conservation work being done in the museum’s bug nursery
Watch below: After several years and about 100,000 hours of work, Donna Clare, the architect behind the new Royal Alberta Museum, speaks with Gord Steinke. “This building couldn’t be anywhere else,” she said.
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