Originally Published: 2006-01-08

The Royal Ontario Museum has changed its face. On Boxing Day the new halls of the ROM - Canada's most important museum - opened to the public following an extensive restyling that began last year. That was needed, explained to us by Director of Communications Francisco Alvarez, to bring back the museum at the heart of city life.
"Most Torontonians," said Alvarez, "visited the ROM during their school years, and many got the idea that it's a dark, boring place. Five years ago, the management decided to change course and transform this structure. The ROM attracts 1 to 1.5 million visitors per year: that's a good number, which we now hope to increase within a short time."
The recently completed work concerned the historic Rotunda, the Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre, the Samuel Hall and the Learning Centre. The most interesting part is the Rotunda, considered one of the best examples of Canadian architecture. The hall's glasses and marbles have been returned to their splendour of the thirties, when a country in a full-blown depression chose to valorize domestic products.
Originally, the Rotunda was the museum's main entrance; now it will become a space for relaxing and eating. Other spaces will accommodate previously unavailable collections.
"One of the reasons that led us to look for new solutions," continued Alvarez, "was that we had no space for displaying all our pieces, including some pretty extraordinary ones. That's why some halls will be used for thematic exhibitions that will change during the year."
The ROM is striving to be reborn, after years of decline that saw its staff cut by almost 100, something that can lead to rather dark considerations about Canada's cultural demand in the early 21st century.
The slump might be almost over, though: by the end of 2006 the museum will open the first part of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, the futuristic structure overlooking Bloor St. designed by famous Polish architect Daniel Libeskind.
"The structure," remarked Alvarez, "evokes shapes of crystals. Libeskind says he was inspired by a visit to the Natural History wing of our museum, but anyway this is a recurring concept in his work. For the moment, the metal skeleton has been completed: by the end of next year, the first section of the Crystal should open to the public."

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