Expansion for Canada Aviation Museum

Great, if you like aircraft as I do:

OTTAWA — Long considered the poor cousin in the family of federal museums, the Canada Aviation Museum is poised for a major expansion that would catapult it into the big leagues [photo here].

The National Capital Commission has approved the final plans of a $7-million expansion that would add a new foyer, auditorium, classrooms, cafeteria, lookout tower, retail space and landscaped entrance. All told the expansion is to add 2,600 square metres or 18 per cent more space to the museum.

Work is to begin in May and be completed in the fall of 2010. While at 26,000 square metres the east-end museum will remain one of the smallest major museums in the city, the expansion will dramatically enhance the celebration of Canada’s aviation history and heritage.

“Aviation is embedded in the fabric of the Canadian experience, but currently we look like a hangar for aircraft rather than a museum,” said Stephen Quick, the associate director-general.

“The purpose of this expansion is to show to the visitor to Ottawa that we are really a museum. When you come into the museum, it will have what we call a ‘wow factor.’ You begin your experience as you enter the door.”

As the national repository of the country’s aviation heritage, the Canada Aviation Museum showcases this important part of our history.

It began in 1964 in Rockcliffe as the National Aeronautical Collection, but grew into a full-fledged museum in 1988, with a treasure trove that includes 130 aircraft dating back to 1910, plus 180 engines and assorted artifacts.

Among its world-class holdings are the iconic De Havilland Beaver, the first aircraft used to open up the Canadian North; the last remaining pieces of the ill-fated Avro Arrow; and a replica of the aircraft Alexander Graham Bell used for the first controlled flight in Nova Scotia. It also has vintage aircraft from the two world wars.

More than any nation in the world, Canada used aviation to explore and open up the vast land mass and Mr. Quick says there is a rich history that the museum “safeguards for Canadians.” As the collection grew in importance, a new storage wing was added in 2005 to house aircraft parked outside at the mercy of the elements.

Still, Mr. Quick said the Canadian Aviation Museum lacks the programming space and all the elements that make it stand out as a real functioning museum. He says the museum hosts a lot of school children but when they come in, there is no dedicated area for education programming.

The expansion, which is concentrated on the front end of the building, will change that. The museum will offer visitors a new glass entrance that leads into a new foyer. A snow-bird aircraft that is suspended from the ceiling will greet visitors as they walk in. Interpretive elements such as touch screens will help immerse visitors in the museum experience. An attached 300-seat auditorium, complemented by classrooms for educational programming, will anchor the new development. The auditorium, with its retractable seats, could be converted into a banquet hall, with the foyer serving as a gathering place for cocktail parties. It would also have a stage and theatrical lighting so that theatre groups, especially in the east end, could stage plays. The adjoining classrooms will provide the space for proper educational programs that have long been absent for lack of space.

The NCC believes the auditorium could become so special as to attract people from all parts of the national capital region. It has advised that a plaza in front of the main entrance should remain a gathering place and vehicles should not be allowed to go through it.

Mr. Quick says the expansion will offer not just a new experience for visitors to the museum, but new opportunities for the east end community as well.

“When we took a look at it, we realized that the east end of Ottawa doesn’t have a conference centre, the communities there have no place they can go to do community theatre,” he said. “Now you can do that.”..