Architects to redraw Royal Alberta Museum expansion

Architects working on a revamp of the Royal Alberta Museum have been told to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that will cost no more than $200 million.

Plans to expand the museumhave balloonedto $296 million due to soaring construction costs in the province.

The first phase ofthe project will begin this summer, butthe creation of an underground parking lot won't happen right away, said Anne Douglas, the spokeswoman for Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture.

Instead, workers will add 80 new spaces to the surface parking lot and upgrade theexisting building and the exhibits.

"The building is 40 years old, so we do need to update exhibits and we do need to update the building. So that's what we are going to concentrate on first."

The museum will remain open while the work is being done.

Subsequent phases of the project will depend on what the architects come up with to fit the budget, she said.

The museum, built in 1967, has 10 million objects documenting Alberta's history.