Group calls for one P.E.I. museum

The president of the Summerside's Historical Society says it is time to build a P.E.I. provincial museum. George Dalton says the Island is the only Canadian province without such a facility.

At present, P.E.I. has a provincial museum system with artifacts scattered in seven separate locations around the province.

"So much of our history is out of sight," Dalton says. "It's in attics, in private collections and it simply never gets displayed."

Dalton says tourists are missing out because they simply can't get to all locations of the museum.

No problem for museum foundation:

Doreen Sark says the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation does not see a problem with having multiple locations.

She says Islanders prefer having museums spread out in the smaller, rural communities.

Sark adds it is cheaper than running one large museum. "Unless you have the population of Montreal or Toronto it's very difficult to justify the expense of a huge building."

Dalton says, economics aside, it is important to offer people a chance to see Island history in one spot.