WINNIPEG – The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will open on Sept. 20, 2014, Stuart Murray, its president and CEO, announced Monday.
The museum in Winnipeg, the only national museum outside the national capital region, was first conceived of more than a decade ago. A groundbreaking took place in 2008 and construction started in 2009.
“When the doors of this building open next September, it will be a historic moment for Canada and a proud day for Manitoba, as we welcome visitors from across the country and around the world,” Stuart said in a news release.
The museum said it expects 250,000 people to visit the museum every year.
The building has had massive cost overruns, with capital costs estimated at $265 million before the groundbreaking and having hit $350 million by December 2011. It still isn’t clear what it will cost to visit the new institution: the museum says admission fees and membership will be set “after research and focus testing is complete.”
There has also been controversy over its exhibits. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress critical because it said the Holodomor, a man-made famine under Stalin, wasn’t sufficiently covered in the museum. Aboriginal groups have objected to the fact that the term genocide won’t be applied to exhibits on the mistreatment of aboriginals in Canada.
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