The recently-renovated Canada Science and Technology Museum displays an astounding number of artifacts, but visitors only get to see a small fraction of the objects they possess. That will change when Ingenium — Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation opens its new Collections Conservation Centre currently under construction next door to the museum.

The $150-million project has been years in the making and aims to consolidate the corporation’s world-class collection that is currently stored in three overflowing warehouses that weren’t originally built to house objects to the high standards that a museum needs to properly conserve artifacts for future generations, all while making their collection more accessible than ever.

“While 12 percent (of our collection) is on display, it means that 88 percent isn’t. That’s why we really set the goal for ourselves to make this new Collections Conservation Centre as accessible as possible to the public, to researchers, to industry and to government,” said Christina Tessier, the CEO of Ingenium, the organization that oversees the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.