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Towering achievement

Human rights museum's massive skin complete; now to fill it

By: Geoff Kirbyson

Posted: 09/21/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Canadian Museum of Human Rights CEO Stuart Murray in the Garden of Contemplation that looks into the "Cloud" a giant glass structure that surrounds the upper floors of the museum. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Workers wait for a crane to lift the last pane of glass for the Tower of Hope.

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They reach for the final pane as it is lowered to them.

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News media interview CMHR president and CEO Stuart Murray in the Garden of Contemplation.

One of the most important projects in Winnipeg's history hit a significant milestone Thursday.

The last pane of glass was installed on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' Tower of Hope, signifying the end of exterior construction and the start of work indoors.

"This is a transition day for us," said Stuart Murray, the museum's president and CEO. "We've transitioned from a construction site to now operationalizing and learning how we're going to run this museum.

"Moving forward, this is huge for us."

The glass piece was the last of 1,669 panes installed. They will withstand the extreme heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter, thanks to testing by Winnipeg-based E.H. Price.

A grand opening date has yet to be set, but considering Winnipeggers' consternation when other megaprojects such as the new Richardson International Airport terminal and the new Investors Group Field stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers missed their announced opening dates, it's no surprise.

"We know it's 2014. We're going to get that down to the day and a month, and we should probably know that early in 2013," Murray said.

Although much of the CMHR is still an unknown quantity, including the number of exhibits and the topics they will cover, there is no shortage of predictions of how much it will contribute to the local economy. Some say it will attract 250,000 people a year and add more than $75 million to the province's gross domestic product through spending in restaurants, hotels and retail outlets.

"The generosity of 7,300 private donors and all of Canadians through the contributions of each level of government has brought us to this moment," said Gail Asper, the national campaign chairwoman of the Friends of the CMHR. "After years of planning, it is thrilling and rewarding for Canadians to see their new human rights museum in its full form."

Asper has long used the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, as her guide. It now attracts about 850,000 people annually more than a decade after opening.

Murray said when Asper's dad, Izzy Asper, first dreamed of the museum, he believed he wanted something that would not only tell the story of human rights around the world but be an economic driver for Winnipeg and Manitoba.

"I think he's winning on both fronts," Murray said.

Coupled with the many other major projects in various stages of completion within the Perimeter Highway, Murray said Winnipeggers are "standing a little bit taller."

"We're feeling a little more proud about who we are as Manitobans, and we should. We deserve it. Everybody has pitched in and they've worked hard. This province is on the move."

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Might of the museum

The glass at the tip of the Tower of Hope stretches almost 100 metres into the air, 24 metres higher than the Golden Boy on top of the legislature.

The skeleton beneath the glasswork contains 5,400 tonnes of steel, equal to that in 27 diesel-electric locomotives.

The museum's concrete foundation and core weigh 35,000 tonnes, about the weight of 3,000 fully grown male elephants.

Construction of the museum is creating the equivalent of 6,000 full-time jobs. There are about 350 trades workers on site every day.

The construction alone is generating more than $53 million in new federal taxes, and the museum will generate another $4.5 million in perpetuity once it opens.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 21, 2012 B1

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