Many questions arise about new Royal Museum in Victoria

I don't have any answers to this controversy, only questions. Start with the proposed research and collection building in Colwood. One justification that baffles me is that the basement of the existing building is “below sea level.” Is this a red herring, as it conjures up images of needing scuba equipment to access the artifacts stored in the basement. Is the existing basement damp and mouldy? Have the harbour waters already reached the foundation of the existing museum? Is this a mitigation for the risk of rising sea levels over the next 100 years? How is it that the new building has a precise cost of $224 million? Does the museum have a completed design and fixed-price bid that would justify this precision? These are the types of questions that arise when one is getting the “mushroom treatment” and being kept in the dark.

Bryan Mcconachy, West Vancouver