Glenbow Museum to close at the end of August for major renovations - Action News
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Calgary

Glenbow Museum to close at the end of August for major renovations

The Glenbow Museum in downtown Calgary will close its doors for three yearsstarting at the end of August, as major renovations start on the building.

The downtown institution will shutter for three years as it completely revamps its 50-year-old home

A drawing depicts a revamped Glenbow Museum in Calgary with a new exterior cladding.
A conceptual image of the new, renovated Glenbow Museum. The museum is scheduled to close at the end of 2021 and reopen in late 2023 or early 2024. (Submitted by Glenbow Museum)

The Glenbow Museum in downtown Calgary will close its doors for three yearsstarting at the end of August, as major renovations start on the building.

"It's a big concrete box, essentially," said Melanie Kjorlien, the museum's chief operating officer and VP of engagement.

"And so part of what we're envisioning for this renovation is to really open up that box, if you will, and just make it more accessible to the public."

The Glenbow, which opened 50 years ago,shares an entrance with the Telus Convention Centre,but soon it willhave its own front door, and more opportunities to see inside.

Work on the $120millionproject is already underway.

The first two floors are still open, but they'll close on August 29.

The Glenbow welcomed public feedback on the major projectwith two virtual open houses earlier this month. Now it's hearing from Indigenous communities in Treaty 7 territory and across the country.

"We certainly want to make sure that the communities whose culture is represented in Glenbow's collections are actively involved, telling stories about that, those collections, the way that they want to tell it." saidKjorlien.

Until the museum reopens in 2024, some of its 250,000 articles will be on exhibit at a satellite site starting next year.

With files from Sarah Moore