Approval has been given by the Da Nang Party Committee’s Executive Board for the Museum of Da Nang to be relocated in 2018 to the current headquarters of the municipal People’s Council at 42 Bach Dang.

The entrance to the existing Museum of Da Nang

The Director of the Department of Culture and Sports, Mr Huynh Van Hung, remarked “The moving of the museum out of the Dien Hai Citadel site is a bold decision for the local leaders.  It shows their special concern for the local cultural heritage.  The construction of the museum, which incorporated the reconstructed walls of the Citadel, has harmed the historical relic contrary to national heritage law.”

Mr Huynh Dinh Quoc Thien, Director of the museum, highlighted the meaning of the relocation in preserving and promoting the cultural values of the Citadel.  He added that the People’s Council building is also one of the city’s historical sites.  The relocation of the museum to this building, therefore, will help to promote a wider introduction of the city’s historical documents and artifacts to the public.

The current People’s Council headquarters

It is expected that, after moving the museum to its new location in 2018, the existing museum site will be refurbished to display exhibits and documents relating to the Citadel and the resistance wars between the French and the people of Quang Nam and Da Nang.

The People’s Council building, with its French-style architecture, used to be the town hall during the French colonial period.  At noon on 29 March 1975, the revolutionary flag was raised at the top of the town hall to mark the liberation of the city.  The building was formerly the headquarters of the Da Nang People’s Committee, and the ex-Quang Nam-Da Nang People’s Committee before that.