The MP for Saint John-Rothesay says he is excited to see funding for the New Brunswick Museum revitalization project.

On Saturday, the provincial and federal governments announced more than $8 million for the planning phase of the project.

“I’m absolutely pumped and excited by it,” Wayne Long said following an unrelated announcement in Saint John this week.

The province is contributing $4.6 million while the federal government is providing $3.8 million.

Long said the revitalization project will be transformational for not only Saint John but the entire region.

“On the federal side, I’ve advocated and lobbied for us as a federal government to step up in a big way for the New Brunswick Museum. There’s been lots of meetings with local MLAs and the premier,” he said.

Long also hinted at a further announcement related to the New Brunswick Museum which he said could come “hopefully within a couple of weeks.”

The province has said a larger funding announcement is expected in the “near future,” adding it is committed to confirming a permanent home for the museum in Saint John “soon.”

“It’s going to be a great day for the region,” Long said of the pending announcement, without offering any other details.

The New Brunswick Museum currently operates out of two main facilities: its Collections and Research Centre at 277 Douglas Ave. in Saint John, which is owned by the province; and the Exhibition Centre at Market Square in Saint John, which is leased from the private sector.

The Exhibition Centre has been closed to the public for a number of months.

A push for a new facility seemed to be paying off for the museum into late 2018, with momentum building from long-time community discussion around such a project over two decades.

But the conversation stalled after the Higgs government pulled $50 million in funding for at the time was a new combined New Brunswick Museum space proposed for the Saint John waterfront.

The museum planning project will include architectural design, engineering and other costing details that will allow the project to move to the construction phase.