The new museum and cultural centre in Fort Langley is now scheduled to fully open sometime next summer, almost two years after its original projected opening date.
An Oct. 7 report to Langley Township council updated the timelines on the salishan Place by the River construction project.
According to the unsigned report, the Township was expecting to have the contractor turn over the building for occupancy between mid- to late-October, which the report described as "a milestone that will kickstart the launch of further activity and bring salishan Place to life."
Timelines for various components of the opening include relocating the Fort Langley Library branch into the space, opening some spaces such as the reception hall, theatre, and multi-purpose rooms for booking by later this fall, checking museum systems like the climate control equipment that protects artifacts, and moving the collection from the Langley Centennial Museum.
Some of those processes could take just a few weeks, while the move of the museum collection would take 24 to 30 weeks.
"It is anticipated that the process of becoming fully operational remains at approximately seven to eight months," the report said. "If occupancy is obtained by the middle to end of October 2024, with progressive opening along the way, the facility will be at full operation by early summer of 2025."
The salishan Place is well past its original planned opening dates.
Construction was underway in 2021, with exterior walls going up over the winter. In January 2022, senior Township staff were hoping for a soft opening later that year, with staff beginning to move in around January 2023 and for programs to start by July 1, 2023.
Although the exterior of the building was finished, the structure has sat empty for some time.
As of late October this year, the interior appears largely complete, at least as seen through the building's windows, but shelves remain empty.
The most recent Township report does not make any mention of delays, or offer any explanation for why the opening date has been pushed back.
The ambitious plans for the site were announced in 2018, with the Township partnering with the Kwantlen First Nation.
The new cultural centre and museum would be built on Township-owned land just across the street from the Fort Langley National Historic Site.
The new building would include more involvement of local First Nations, as well as taking over the role of the Langley Centennial Museum, which dates back to the British Columbia centennial in 1958, and was badly in need of more space and updated facilities. It would also be the new home of the Fort Langley branch of the Fraser Valley Regional Library, which had been housed in a corner of the Fort Langley Community Hall for decades.
It was designed to include a reception hall, gallery spaces, an auditorium, and space for galleries and archives.
The facilities that were supposed to move into the salishan Place have been in limbo.
In September 2022, the Langley Centennial Museum closed its doors. It was to spend the next year moving over to salishan Place.
In February 2024 the Fort Langley Library moved out of the Fort Community Hall, and with no sign of salishan Place opening, it moved into a "pop up" location in the Centennial Museum building instead.
Last summer, the Township told another media outlet that salishan place would open around February, 2025.
