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Antiquities Monuments & Museum Corporation mission is to protect, preserve, and promote the historic cultural resources of The Bahamas, and to be the number one conservation agency in the world. We will do this while protecting our environment, encourage research and archaeology, and by promoting our historic sites.
The National Museum of The Bahamas, Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation (AMMC) is a quasi-government agency that begun its operations on July 1, 1999. The corporation, legislated by Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Act 1998 and Regulations 1999, is the nation’s principal heritage conservation and preservation agency.
As early as 1974, legislation was proposed to create a national museum to establish guidelines regarding ownership, acquisition, and treatment of cultural properties recovered in this country. Numerous revisions were made to the legislation. The Department of Archives drafted legislation in 1988 providing for the establishment of the National Museum.
Among the provisions of the draft were the establishment and operation of a National Arts Council of The Bahamas. Addressing the lack of legislation to protect cultural heritage, a new Bill was drafted to provide for the preservation, conservation, restoration, documentation, study and presentation of objects of historical, anthropological, archaeological and paleontological interest; to establish a national museum, conservation and archaeological research center and matters ancillary thereto or concerned therewith. Moreover, in 1993, the draft legislation was amended to include the establishment of a National Art Gallery of The Bahamas. In 1995, government and non-government organizations reviewed the draft. Finally, in 1998, legislation for the protection of Bahamian cultural property emerged in the form of the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Act. A Complimentary Regulations Act was enforced one year later.
The Corporation presently falls under the Office of the Prime Minister and it is governed by a board of 12 members.
This property was originally owned by the Hon, David A. Brice, a member of the Legislative Council. The Brice family, with a Loyalist background, came to Nassau from Alligator Bay, Long Island. The Hon. Ralph A. Collins, OBE, was an American who came to the Bahamas in 1905; married Marion (daughter of Hon. David Brice) and together they inherited the Brice property.
The original home was made from wood, which was destroyed in the 1929 hurricane. Ralph Collins swore that the house would never be destroyed by a hurricane so he decided to rebuild the house with reinforced concrete. The house was completed in 1931.
After the death of Ralph Collins in 1946, Saint Andrew’s School occupied this house from 1950-1971. The Government of the Bahamas acquired Collins House and it was then occupied by the Ministry of Education until 2001.
Since 2005, Collins House has been placed under the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation. The ultimate goal of the AMMC is to establish the National Museum of the Bahamas
