MARKHAM, ON ~ July 30, 2009 ~ Construction has started on the new collections building at the Markham Museum.
The Museum will remain open during construction. When completed in 2010, the 17,000 sq. ft. addition will become the new main entry to the Museum. The collections building incorporates gallery space for temporary exhibitions, a research area to study Markham history and local genealogy, and environmentally-controlled storage areas to preserve the Museum’s growing collections.

The new open artifact storage will enable glimpses of the museum collections.  “With the support of the federal government, we are able to make this significant investment in cultural heritage in Markham – the most diverse municipality in Canada. Markham is an awardwinning heritage community and this new building will further strengthen the Museum’s role as a major regional attraction and Markham’s commitment to heritage,” said Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

The new building addition will compliment the museum’s focus to explore:
• the stories of settlement – telling the story of the ongoing adaptation to a new life in
Canada, from settlement to present day
• the environment – looking at the impact each settlement phase had on the
environment and the steps settlers took to reverse their environmental footprint
• technology – examining the shift from a farming community to a major urban centre
and how the evolution of technology led to Markham’s status as a major high tech
centre in Canada.

The new $9 million facility will feature landscape improvements and will be one of the first museums built to LEED standards. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance “green” buildings. The new collections building was made possible through funding provided by The Town of Markham and the federal Cultural Spaces Grant Program.