Construction Begins On Library And Archives Canada’s New Preservation Facility

Aug 12, 2019 - 6 years ago

Library and Archives Canada began construction on its new 12,900-square metre preservation facility in Gatineau. The addition of this new building, which will be linked to the existing state-of-the-art Preservation Centre, will allow LAC to consolidate an ever-growing collection and guarantee the long-term preservation of analogue textual holdings and audiovisual materials, which require very special preservation conditions.

The facility also will be the first net-zero carbon centre dedicated to archival preservation in the Americas when it goes into operation by summer 2022.

At the ground-breaking ceremony on August 12, 2019, Dr. Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, called it a great day for the continued preservation of Canada’s cherished and invaluable documentary heritage.

The centre will provide 21,240 cubic metres, or the equivalent of about 8.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of collection storage capacity and will also be one of the world’s largest facilities equipped with an automated storage and retrieval system for archival collections.