John Aldag, Member of Parliament for Cloverdale-Langley City was joined by his colleagues Sukh Dhaliwal, Member of Parliament for Surrey-Newton, Randeep Sarai, Member of Parliament for Surrey-Centre and Ken Hardie, Member of Parliament for Fleetwood-Port Kells at the Surrey Museum regarding Federal Funding for Heritage Projects in Surrey on behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Heritage.The city’s four Liberal MPs and Surrey’s Mayor Linda Hepner made the announcement at the Surrey Museum in Cloverdale.
Mayor Linda Hepner was present to accept the investment on behalf of the City.
The federal government has earmarked $822,269 in cultural infrastructure funding for Surrey to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, expand the Surrey Museum, upgrade the Surrey Arts Centre gallery and renovate Anniedale School.
The money, made available through the Department of Canadian Heritage, will be divided among different projects. $377,269 has been earmarked for the museum expansion, $195,000 for a “Surrey Celebrates Canada 150” zone at the city’s Fusion Festival, $150,000 for the arts centre upgrade and $100,000 to renovate the school, which was built in 1891 and is Surrey’s oldest remaining one-room schoolhouse.The $195,000 will be for an 80,000 square-foot space and celebratory area at the Surrey Fusion Festival which will feature a special stage to celebrate the nation’s birthday, Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai said.
“I think this is an absolute perfect example of partnership,” Hepner said. “Historically, local governments do not get to interact so directly with the federal government and that is a significant shift that I have noticed over this past year and it is certainly paying off with the significant announcements today.”
“The museum will grow by more than 12,000 square feet, adding a new atrium, expanded galleries, a dedicated indigenous hall, more workshop spaces and storage for artifacts,” said John Aldag, MP for Cloverdale-Langley City
Sukh Dhaliwal, MP for Surrey Newton, called Surrey a “cultural capital in Canada” while
Sarai said this year’s celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation will be Canada’s largest celebration “in at least 50 years.”