Future Museum Plans Include Houses of Culture and Downtown “Eco-Museum”

Alexis Salazar

Strange as it may sound, the Museum of Belize is not a national museum – most of its collections detail life in the Old Capital from its days as a colonial outpost to its modern depiction. With space limited at its location, the Museum regularly shifts around its exhibits. But future expansion, says Director Alexis Salazar, will come through the Houses of Culture established in five of Belize’s six districts. One of those, the former Government House across town, is in the middle of renovations to turn it into a greater repository for Belize City history – a history which will be on display throughout the downtown as a result of the Downtown Rejuvenation Project which includes the waterfront, City Hall, and Commercial Center.

Alexis Salazar, Director, Museum of Belize/Houses of Culture

“The Museum is a space and there’s very little we can do about the size or moving the size. But you need to realize that the Museum is not only the Museum; it is the Houses of Culture that have other spaces, so if we look at expansion, it will have to be through the Houses of Culture or building a national museum that would be built for the purpose of a museum. This was a prison that was retrofitted to be a museum, so that does have its limitations. To answer your question I would say, our expansion would be through our Houses of Culture as micro-museums.”

Reporter

“And speaking of…there is that plan ongoing to formulate a National Colonial Museum at the Government House, the House of Culture here in the City, and do the renovation of the Commercial Center and other things; tell us from your perspective where that is going?”

Alexis Salazar

“I do sit on the Project Steering Committee for that project. It’s not a national colonial heritage; it’s more Belize City’s historical and cultural heritage that we want to display in the museum that is going to open where the present Government House is. That will be a museum also, and it will be a part of our system of museums here at NICH. The Downtown Rejuvenation Project expands to what is called the concept of an eco-museum, so it’s not just one space; it’s the entire Albert and Regent Street and specific houses that we decide to highlight on there that we are looking as the Committee that is steering this project to work and see how we can best fit downtown Belize City into a project like this.”