AR 2001 Layout_Final - Royal Ontario Museum
AR 2001 Layout_Final - Royal Ontario Museum
AR 2001 Layout_Final - Royal Ontario Museum
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Welcome to Renaissance ROM<br />
This bold new vision for the dramatic growth and revitalization of the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
is the cornerstone of major cultural rebirth in Toronto. It is designed to transform<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong> into a stellar attraction for the city, the province and Canada,<br />
through wonderful new galleries, compelling new architecture and improved<br />
public amenities. Renaissance ROM will also stimulate a leap forward into the<br />
ROM’s financial stability, while dramatically increasing the <strong>Museum</strong>’s audience<br />
reach and its service to the public.<br />
Around the world, major cultural expansion projects are revitalizing local,<br />
regional and national landscapes, providing significant improvements to the<br />
quality of life and incentives for tourism and business investment. With<br />
Renaissance ROM, this fundamental revival has finally reached Toronto.<br />
Situated on one of the most desirable corners in Canada, and surrounded by<br />
neighbouring cultural redevelopments—the University of Toronto, the <strong>Royal</strong><br />
Conservatory of Music and the George R. Gardiner <strong>Museum</strong> of Ceramic Art—<br />
the transformed ROM will infuse new life and vitality into Canada’s cultural<br />
landscape. Renaissance ROM also elevates Toronto’s profile as an important<br />
destination for tourism and investment.<br />
The ROM’s reputation for excellence is acknowledged globally. By all measures—collections,<br />
worldwide research, exhibitions, education, community service<br />
and multicultural outreach—the <strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Ontario</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> is a leader. With<br />
more than five million objects, the ROM is the fifth-largest museum in North<br />
America by the volume of its collections, which date back more than 100 years.<br />
It is the largest field-research institution in Canada, and one of the largest extracurricular<br />
educators of school-aged children.<br />
Last year the ROM attracted more than a million visitors, 160,000 school<br />
children, and 1.5 million Web-site visitors, and reached out to 400,000 people in<br />
communities across <strong>Ontario</strong>. This record of excellence, however, has come<br />
under significant strain with the steady erosion of the ROM’s financial position<br />
over the last decade. Renaissance ROM will enable the <strong>Museum</strong> to maintain its<br />
leadership and excellence, by embracing a dramatic alteration, physically, spiritually<br />
and economically.<br />
Renaissance ROM will cost a total of $200 million and will be funded by a<br />
combination of public and private capital support. The project will be achieved<br />
in two phases over four years. It will also allow the <strong>Museum</strong> to remain open<br />
throughout construction, giving ample opportunity for public engagement and<br />
participation. The first phase will see new construction and initial heritage<br />
restoration of the original buildings begun in May 2003 and completed by<br />
December 2005; phase two will see restoration of the historic original buildings<br />
completed by December 2006.<br />
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