A House of Sciences is in incubation in the Capitale-Nationale. This museum with a laboratory is due to open in 2024 within the Séminaire de Québec, in Old Quebec. To carry out this project, its instigators ask for the help of the public. However, Quebec announced last year significant financial support for the renovation of the building.
The exhibition with a scientific flavor, long dreamed of by former mayor Régis Labeaume, should revolve around ancient scientific instruments from the collection of the Séminaire. An 18th century pocket sundiale century, an extraordinary telescope dating from 1803 and an electric charge from 1889 will thus be able to capture the attention of visitors.
This new museum in the capital, overseen by the Musée de la civilisation, must also present to the public a curious “phonautograph” and a “vibroscope”, pioneering mechanisms in the field of audio. The vibroscope is notably the device at the origin of the oldest known recording of the human voice.
“A laboratory for appropriation and scientific experimentation” would complement this learning space.
But before opening the doors of such a museum, officials are asking for the public’s help. The goal is to raise 5 million dollars by 2026. Half has already been accumulated, in particular thanks to a donation of 1 million from the patron of the Musée de la civilization, Roland Lepage.
The Maison des sciences de Québec is one of the future network of “Blue Spaces”. Funding of nearly $48 million from the Quebec government has already been reserved for the Camille-Roy pavilion, where this new museum will be located. Last year, the City of Quebec said it wanted to contribute $2.5 million for the initiative. The opening of the museum, postponed to 2024, had even been promised for this year.
The instigators of the project explain that the public’s money will be used to create the museum content, while the government’s money must pay for the renovation of the building as a whole.
Quebec aerospace engineer Farah Alibay has been designated as an ambassador for this public fundraiser. “Life, our place in the universe, the construction of our world and its future are the most wonderful stories to tell, because they are endless,” she said when officially announcing the launch of the fundraiser.