The BC government is pumping the brakes on the $800 million redevelopment project of the Royal BC Museum in downtown Victoria after public backlash.

Premier John Horgan made the announcement during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, accepting blame for making what he characterized as the wrong decision at the wrong time.

“We thought we had it right. Clearly we did not. I have heard people of BC quite clearly,” he said. “Today I’m announcing we’re stopping the project going to go back to drawing board.”

The current museum will keep operating into the fall, Horgan said.

While the new museum in Victoria is now put on hold, the government still intends to move forward with its $224 million satellite museum facility in the Greater Victoria suburb of Colwood for the new home of Royal BC Museum’s collections and storage. Construction on this satellite facility is expected to begin this year for an opening in 2025, and it will provide a new home for storing seven million artefacts currently located in the basement of the Victoria museum.

The government announced its redevelopment plans for the museum this spring, billing it as a project that would create a new state-of-the-art facility to showcase the province’s history and provide easier access to its records and archives. The plan entailed demolishing the existing building.

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