The Glenbow Museum will close during the G-8 to protect millions of dollars worth of historical and artistic artifacts, its president and CEO says.
Mike Robinson said the museum's board decided to close up shop from June "The main thing we have to consider is the preservation and safety of the collection," said Robinson.
"We have a multimillion-dollar collection at the Glenbow and we don't own the collection -- it belongs to the people of Alberta and is an asset of the government of Alberta."
Robinson said the decision was made to err on the side of caution in the off-chance chemical agents are used to control crowds outside the museum.
"Tear gas is an oil-based aerosol -- it floats in the air and adheres to feathers, leather, paintings and statues," he said.
"In the process of taking it off, you could damage artifacts."
While the museum will lose potential visitors during the summit, some of the thousands of delegates and journalists wishing to come in groups may be accommodated, Robinson said, adding it will be open as usual the weekend before and after the summit.
Unless problems arise, it will be business as usual during the summit for other downtown attractions, including the Calgary Tower.
"We have some extra security we're doing in advance of G-8 as I'm sure every business is doing," said its general manager Peter Daye.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.