A new version of the renovation and expansion project at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) raises the forecast for construction costs to more than $110 million, according to information obtained by The duty. The budget was estimated at 51 million at the launch of the project in April 2018, revised to 57 million in 2021, then to 85.3 million in 2022.
Quebec and Ottawa will announce this Friday noon the swelling of their respective participations in this major cultural project. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe will present the revised dossier in a joint press conference at Place des arts (PdA) in Montreal.
The MAC, a Crown corporation, occupies the western section of the PdA, another Crown corporation. The building is generally considered ungraceful, with its long blind wall running along rue Jeanne-Mance, in addition to offering too few spaces for the various museum functions, starting with the exhibition of works.
The first dreams of transformation date back to the beginning of the last decade. An early projected incarnation planned outright to tear down the 1992 building to build a bigger, bolder new MAC. A project presented as more modest had finally led to an architectural competition won in 2018 by the firms Saucier + Perrotte Architectes and GLCRM&Associés.
The site, which was to open last year, was finally stopped dead by the Société québécoise des infrastructures, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture, the PdA and the MAC. “The bids received after the launch of the construction call for tenders launched in the spring of 2022 greatly exceeded the forecasts of the experts”, explained the real estate arm of Quebec.
Donors have therefore increased their contributions even more generously. The architectural proposal provides for a new exterior facade to embellish and enlarge the main entrance. The plans announce “nearly 100% increase in spaces and exhibition halls”.
This formulation does not make it possible to precisely distinguish museum spaces (for example, for the education of the public) from areas devoted to collections. According to information obtained by The dutythe new MAC will only offer about 800 square meters of additional exhibition space, part of which is taken from a former collection storage room in the basement.
“It’s much ado about nothing,” said a person connected with the administration of the museum who wishes to remain anonymous. Another person linked to the management of the project spoke of a project that essentially aimed to “transform a wardrobe”.
Anyway, the building has been closed for two years. The museum occupies a small gallery located in Place Ville Marie. The initial schedule called for MAC 2.0 to be occupied in 2025. Optimistic plans now speak of 2027.