Apex Archive - Provide option to launch Apex accessing the Archive Tables.

We are looking to begin the process of archiving Apex data.   From my understanding, the archive tables can only be accessed through database queries and external reporting tools.   It would be better if the archive tables were mirror images of the production tables.  Then, have a way Apex could be launched to access the archive tables - as select only - providing complete use of the Apex system.    We can already set up multiple companies, with separate databases, and launch Apex.   Launching Apex to access the archive databases should be a similar process.     While discussing data archiving in regards to our Command Concrete data, this is exactly how it is handled there.  Would be nice if Apex could do the same.