Alberta's 2026 budget includes $30 million to demolish the former Royal Alberta Museum in Glenora, and the province is still negotiating to save it. Both are true. In the most recent public account of where things stand, the province said the demolition money comes into play only if every redevelopment proposal falls through. The budget line works as a safety net. It is not a decision. The decision depends on a negotiation that, as of the latest public reporting, has not ended.
At 12845 102 Avenue, that leaves two provincial buildings sharing one address. Government House, built as a vice-regal residence in 1913, opens its doors free of charge every Sunday through December. The 1967 museum beside it has been closed for almost eleven years, and the province puts its upkeep at more than $700,000 a year.
Ten years of an empty building, in order
The museum opened in 1967 as the Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta and was renamed the Royal Alberta Museum in 2005, during Queen Elizabeth II's visit for Alberta's centennial. It closed to the public in December 2015, and the collection reopened downtown in 2018. Here is what has happened to the Glenora building since then:
- August 2024. The province announces the building will be demolished and replaced with green space. It estimates demolition at $22 million to $48 million.
- November 2024. Reimagine Architects and Beljan Development pitch a joint plan to keep the building standing and reuse it as a community hub.
- July 2025. After sustained community advocacy, the province offers what it calls a final opportunity for proposals to keep or repurpose the building. CTV News Edmonton reported that Infrastructure Minister Martin Long issued the call.
- Late November 2025. Of the six proposals the province received, three meet the requirements, and the province opens negotiations with the highest-ranked one, according to CTV News Edmonton.
- Spring 2026. The provincial budget sets aside $30 million to demolish the former museum and expects demolition to be finished by the 2028-29 fiscal year, as the Edmonton Journal reported.
- March 25, 2026. The province tells CBC Edmonton that talks with the top-ranked proponent are still going on.
What the province actually said about the money
Alex Cattran, press secretary for the Ministry of Infrastructure, set out the province's position in an email to CBC Edmonton:
"We are still in active, good-faith negotiations with the highest-ranked proponent to redevelop the old RAM. If an agreement cannot be reached, we are prepared to move to the next highest ranked proponent and then the subsequent."
In the same report, Cattran said the budgeted demolition money would be used only if no agreement can be reached with any proponent. He also described the province's goal as a solution that "respects community interest and the site's historic value, while also being cost-effective and responsible with public dollars."
This means the province has set out a sequence. First comes the top-ranked bidder, then the second, then the third, and demolition only after all of them. Three proposals met the requirements in late 2025, so there are three possible deals ahead of the wrecking ball.
The cost of waiting shows up in the numbers. The province reports that the empty building costs taxpayers more than $700,000 a year to operate and maintain. The building has now been empty for almost eleven years, so that annual figure keeps adding up while the talks continue. It also explains why a demolition figure in the budget does not settle anything. Planning money for the worst case is how a government keeps a negotiation from dragging on forever.
Who is at the table, and what they have proposed
The province has not publicly named its top-ranked proponent. Speaking to CBC, it would neither confirm nor deny that it was talking with Reimagine Architects. The firm itself has been more open. In the same CBC report, Reimagine principal Vedran Škopac said the firm is on the shortlist of organizations in talks with the province, and he added, "I honestly think that this building has the potential to be something better than it ever was."
Reimagine founding principal Vivian Manasc described the concept in a webinar for the National Trust for Canada, a charity that calls the Glenora building a "stunning example of midcentury modern architecture." CBC reported that the proposal includes:
- pickleball and other sports courts
- space for arts partners from across the city
- markets
- a small theatre
- a café
Reimagine is working with Beljan Development on the plan. Taproot Edmonton also covered the building in March 2026, as the city's architecture community debated what to do with it.
This list is a proposal from one team on the shortlist. It is not an approved program, a tenant roster or a construction schedule. The province is choosing from three qualifying bids, and a different proponent would bring a different plan. "Old RAM becomes a pickleball and market hall" is one possible outcome. It has not been announced.
Where things stand this fall
The province's March 2026 statement to CBC is still the most recent public account of where the talks stand. No signed agreement, named proponent, move to a second bidder or demolition start has been announced since. When the outcome comes, it will take one of a few forms:
| If the province announces... | What it would mean for the building |
|---|---|
| An agreement with the top-ranked proponent | The building stays and is redeveloped under that team's plan |
| A move to the second- or third-ranked bidder | The building stays, but under a different team and possibly a different program |
| No agreement with any proponent | The budgeted demolition money comes into play, with completion targeted for 2028-29 |
Until one of those announcements arrives, any certainty about the building's future comes from somewhere other than the province.
The building next door is open on Sundays
While the museum's fate stays undecided, its older neighbour is running a full public schedule. Government House offers guided public tours on Sundays and holiday Mondays from February through December. Tours are free, need no appointment, and run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., usually starting on the hour or half hour and lasting 30 to 45 minutes. Visitors enter through the West Entrance only.
From the last week of October, that leaves the Sundays from November 1 through December 27 before tours pause for January. The tours cover three floors:
- Main floor: restored to look as close as possible to its original décor, with a combined reception and dining area, a music room and a library.
- Second floor: a central reception area surrounded by a small study and four small conference rooms, each named for a Lieutenant Governor who lived in the house.
- Third floor: the Alberta Room, created in a 1976 renovation that made the house a venue for government meetings, conferences and state occasions.
The house served as the vice-regal residence from 1913 to 1938, and the tour includes original artifacts and furnishings from that period, along with an art collection of historic and contemporary Canadian artists. The province says the grounds around Government House are open to the public for day use with no time restrictions.
Government House has also stopped holding its long-running spring and Christmas teas and is planning new public events in their place. The province says that planning is still underway and has not yet published dates. The Government House events page is where those dates will appear, along with the New Year's Day Levee, which the house typically hosts on January 1 with free admission.
Two buildings, one address
The two buildings share the address but lead opposite lives right now. The 1913 house is open to anyone on a Sunday afternoon, free of charge. The 1967 museum beside it has been closed since December 2015, and the province says it costs more than $700,000 a year to keep it standing while the talks continue.
The province has already reversed course on this site once. Its August 2024 plan for green space gave way to the July 2025 call for proposals after community advocacy, which Manasc credited for bringing the government "back to the table." The next announcement will say which of the three outcomes in the table above the province chose, and the $30 million line will be spent only if all three bids fail.
Franco Maione follows changes on 102 Avenue the way Glenora homeowners do, one announcement at a time. If you live near the old museum and want a clear picture of where your home stands while the site's future is decided, request a Home Valuation and we will talk it through calmly, with no pressure.
