Local firm urges Alberta government to rethink fate of former museum building

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The Alberta government announced its decision this summer to demolish the former Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) building in the Glenora neighbourhood, upsetting Edmontonians, but a local development firm says its vision for repurposing the iconic locale is not just a better use of the space to honour its legacy but is also a more financially prudent option.

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“I know the amount of resources and time and money spent on building new, and when you can see something that’s already built, but just reimagine it in a different way — there’s just a lot of savings on money and time. Plus, you can keep that story,” said Ivan Beljan, owner of Beljan Development.

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In August, the Alberta government announced that due to ballooning operations costs and deferred maintenance, it would be tearing down the old RAM space. The decision didn’t just upset Beljan for the future of a building he loves, but also because his firm had been ghosted after working hard to create a plan for the space. Now, as the building’s future inches towards demolition, Beljan is speaking out to protect the structure, a vital piece of Edmonton, and an Alberta landmark.

“I think we’re too quick to demolish things, and I think there’s a lot of good in finding ways to bring a building back to life again,” said Beljan.

Beljan believes the space can retain its iconic status but in a new form.

“I love the idea of showing the city, the province, Canada, the world, how creative and innovative we are as a city — that we’ve taken this building and now it’s become a community hub of activity in a great location,” said Beljan.

“Maybe we can hang our identity on some of that.”

Faster and cheaper

“The building’s up, so we can move quick. That’s the beauty of what we do,” said Beljan.’

While the building still stands, Beljan said that’s an advantage for his firm’s vision of the space. Although the redevelopment would include updating electrical and HVAC systems to ensure they have a “weathertight” building, Beljan said much of the other aspects are like applying a fresh face of ‘makeup’ to the building, which is a faster process.

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“I think our timelines are much quicker, and I’ll say, far less disruptive than what a demolition would be. And so, we see a program of 12 to 18 months of construction time.”

In the release announcing the building’s demolition, the Alberta government cited renovation costs of “at least $150 million,” but Beljan said that number is based on the original vision of the project that his firm put forward, which the Alberta government was initially supportive of.

“Originally, we had an urban village concept where we had residential proposed, and so it was a fairly significant project of probably in the couple 100 millions of investments, but we’ve removed that portion of it now,” said Beljan.

According to the Alberta government, demolition costs are estimated to cost between $22 and $48 million, which is about what it would take to revive the space, according to Beljan.

Beljan’s new plan would revitalize the building as a community hub with a boutique grocer, micro-brewery, cafe, and more.

Communication breakdown

It was in 2020, recalled Beljan, that the Alberta government put out its request for redevelopments (and demolition offers) for the old RAM space.

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“They put it to private industry to say, ‘Hey, we have these buildings. We don’t know what to do with them. Is there a private industry solution to them?’ And one of those buildings was the RAM,” said Beljan.

“I always looked at that museum sort of as like a Taj Mahal or some potential big opportunity that I’d love to be a part of as a dream project,” said Beljan, who’s helped redevelop other Edmonton locales, including the Strathcona Hotel, Oliver Exchange, and the Metals Building on 104 St.

“It’s a beautiful site. The building’s just gorgeous.”

The iconic Tyndall Limestone used for the main walls was actually recognized as a “global heritage stone” in 2023 by the International Commission of Geoheritage (a subcommittee of the International Union of Geological Sciences), which selects stones used for significant “architecture and monuments, recognized as integral aspects of human culture.” Coincidentally, the same organization has recognized 55 other heritage stones, including the Makrana Marble used to build the Taj Mahal.

Beljan said his firm is “really excited” at the opportunity presented by the province’s 2020 request for redevelopment and promptly put a team together to develop a vision of what the space could be, and over the following two years created a plan.

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“The team we were working with (from the Alberta government) at the time was on side with it,” Beljan recalled.

But Beljan said after a “swoop” of personnel changes, the Alberta government side went quiet, with no sound from the province until August’s announcement.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” said Beljan.

It’s not too late

To Beljan’s knowledge, the Alberta government has already started on asbestos removal, which he said is a good thing and that his firm would have had to do that anyway.

For its part, the Alberta government said it couldn’t comment on Beljan’s proposal, saying it is “under review,” but reaffirmed its intention to demolish the building.

“Alberta’s government remains committed to redeveloping the site into a family-friendly park and green space as announced in August,” said Infrastructure Minister Pete Guthrie’s press secretary, Benji Smith, in an emailed statement on Friday.

Beljan is still holding out hope.

“I haven’t seen the bulldozers yet,” said Beljan.

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