The Canadian Museum of Nature is a museum of biology and natural history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The history of the museum dates back to the collections of the Canadian Geological Commission of 1856, which, in the course of its surveys, kept detailed records of Canada’s wildlife. The museum is a member of the Association of Canadian Museums and is also one of 9 museums for which the Ottawa Family Week Museum Passport is valid.
The building
The building was erected on the site of a former farm owned by a merchant of Scottish descent, William Stewart. The area was known as Stewarton. The construction of residential buildings in Stewarton began in the 1870s. In 1905, the government purchased the land to construct a building as an architectural addition to the Parliament of Canada at the opposite end of Metcalfe Street. The “Scottish Baronial” style building, which was designed by David Ewart, cost 1.25 million Canadian dollars to construct. The building housed offices belonging to both the Senate and the House of Commons.
Because the building was located on unstable clay soil, the tall tower that crowned the building had to be demolished in 1915.
After the Parliament fire and until 1922, it housed the House of Commons and some offices of the Government of Canada.
In 1968, the building’s National Museum of Canada was divided into the Canadian Museum of Nature and the National Museum of Man (later renamed the Canadian Museum of Civilization), although both remained in the same building. In 1989, the Museum of Civilization moved to a new building in Gatineau, and since that time the Museum of Nature has occupied the entire building. In 1990, the building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
Between 2004 and 2010, the building underwent a major renovation, during which a large glass hood was installed in place of the tower that had been removed in 1915.
Exposition
In the basement of the museum there is a Solarium (greenhouse) with flying lizards, a presentation laboratory and a three-dimensional movie theater.
The first floor houses the cafeteria (east wing), the Rotunda (south ledge, for short-term exhibitions and celebrations) and the Fossil Gallery (west wing, from Late Cretaceous to Eocene).
On the second floor are the Water Gallery (east wing), the Rotunda Mezzanine (south ledge, for short-term exhibitions), the Mammals of Canada Gallery (west wing), and the Royal Lanterna (site at the base of the Glass Tower).
On the third floor are the Mineral Gallery (east wing), the Salon (south ledge, rented out for holidays) and the Exhibition Hall (west wing). Notable exhibitions:
- 2010-2011: “Antarctica”
- 2011: “Extreme Mammals”.
- 2012 (March – September): “Unpunished Death” (paintings by Ellen Gregory)
- 2012 (September) – 2013 (May): “Unbridled Nature” (hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes – in collaboration with the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA)
On the fourth floor is the exhibition hall (east wing). Notable exhibitions:
- 2012 (March-September): “Tohora Whales” (an exhibition about cetaceans at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum Auckland, New Zealand)
- 2014: Luminous Natural Objects
In between exhibitions, the wing is rented out for events. There is a bird gallery (west wing), including a children’s play area and Animalium (insects, spiders, some amphibians) and exhibition hall in the west wing
A number of rooms of the museum can be rented by organizations and individuals as halls for celebrations and conferences. These include the Rotunda (1st and 2nd floor, south end, where the Parliament of Canada was located in the early 20th century), the Glass Tower (2nd and 3rd floors, north end), the Salon (3rd floor, south end), and the exhibition rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors (when not occupied by exhibitions).