Nova Scotia's new multimillion-dollar art gallery on hold due to rising costs

The new multimillion-dollar Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is on hold.

The project was supposed to break ground on the Halifax waterfront this year, but the Nova Scotia government said Wednesday that the project is on pause indefinitely due to ballooning costs.

"We value the arts and want to make sure there is a home for art to be shared and displayed in our province," said Premier Tim Houston in a news release.

"But now is not the time."

The project was initially expected to cost about $137 million, but the province said a recent independent estimate projected a cost increase of at least $25 million, and possibly more, due to rising inflation and increased construction costs.

The announcement comes a day after Houston’s Progressive Conservative government introduced legislation to rescind a recommended 12.6 per cent pay raise for MLAs, citing record-high inflation.

Houston has also chosen to reduce his salary by $11,246.01, dropping it to $190,754.

The new art gallery was first announced under the previous Liberal government in April 2019 and originally slated to open in 2025.

The province had committed $70 million to the project, the federal government promised $30 million and the Halifax Regional Municipality offered to pitch in $7 million. The Donald R. Sobey Foundation and the Sobey Foundation pledged $10 million to the project in November 2020.

The 13,000-square-metre facility would almost double the space in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s current home on Hollis Street and include large public areas and additional space for the gallery's permanent collection of more than 17,000 works.

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is the largest art museum in Atlantic Canada. It opened in 1908.

The new gallery was set to be built adjacent to Lower Water Street, between Bishop's Landing and Salter Street.

The previous Liberal government had said it hoped the new gallery would double the current number of annual visitors from 64,000 to 120,000.

The winning design was conceived by KPMB Architects, architect Omar Gandhi, artist Jordan Bennett, elder Lorraine Whitman and the firms Public Work and Transsolar.

With files from The Canadian Press