AR 2001 Layout_Final - Royal Ontario Museum

Welcome to Renaissance ROM
This bold new vision for the dramatic growth and revitalization of the Museum
is the cornerstone of major cultural rebirth in Toronto. It is designed to transform
the Museum into a stellar attraction for the city, the province and Canada,
through wonderful new galleries, compelling new architecture and improved
public amenities. Renaissance ROM will also stimulate a leap forward into the
ROM’s financial stability, while dramatically increasing the Museum’s audience
reach and its service to the public.
Around the world, major cultural expansion projects are revitalizing local,
regional and national landscapes, providing significant improvements to the
quality of life and incentives for tourism and business investment. With
Renaissance ROM, this fundamental revival has finally reached Toronto.
Situated on one of the most desirable corners in Canada, and surrounded by
neighbouring cultural redevelopments—the University of Toronto, the Royal
Conservatory of Music and the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art—
the transformed ROM will infuse new life and vitality into Canada’s cultural
landscape. Renaissance ROM also elevates Toronto’s profile as an important
destination for tourism and investment.
The ROM’s reputation for excellence is acknowledged globally. By all measures—collections,
worldwide research, exhibitions, education, community service
and multicultural outreach—the Royal Ontario Museum is a leader. With
more than five million objects, the ROM is the fifth-largest museum in North
America by the volume of its collections, which date back more than 100 years.
It is the largest field-research institution in Canada, and one of the largest extracurricular
educators of school-aged children.
Last year the ROM attracted more than a million visitors, 160,000 school
children, and 1.5 million Web-site visitors, and reached out to 400,000 people in
communities across Ontario. This record of excellence, however, has come
under significant strain with the steady erosion of the ROM’s financial position
over the last decade. Renaissance ROM will enable the Museum to maintain its
leadership and excellence, by embracing a dramatic alteration, physically, spiritually
and economically.
Renaissance ROM will cost a total of $200 million and will be funded by a
combination of public and private capital support. The project will be achieved
in two phases over four years. It will also allow the Museum to remain open
throughout construction, giving ample opportunity for public engagement and
participation. The first phase will see new construction and initial heritage
restoration of the original buildings begun in May 2003 and completed by
December 2005; phase two will see restoration of the historic original buildings
completed by December 2006.
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