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New Storage Wing

Model: aerial view of the Museum Model: view of the Museum at night Aerial view of the New Storage Wing and the Museum The New Storage Wing

As the Museum’s collection has continued to grow over the years, its ability to store and protect Canadian aviation heritage has not. The collection has grown beyond the capacity of the existing Museum building and can no longer be properly conserved or displayed for the many who come to visit each year. The process to address this situation began in 2001 when funding was granted to build a new storage facility. Since then, the Canada Aviation Museum has developed a long-term architectural plan to ensure a unified design for all phases of the Museum complex. It will increase the visibility of the Museum to local and national audiences, and enhance the international reputation of this pre-eminent aeronautical collection. The new complex will provide a highly visible addition to the existing Museum building by creating a physical symbol representing the power and grace of flight. The multi-phase approach will allow the Museum to move forward in all aspects of its important work including collection conservation, storage, library and archives services, and equally important, the visitor experience. The bold new design of the building will include a reflective metal shell and a glazed facade revealing the collection. This will unify the new construction with the existing building and complement the multipurpose functions of the spaces within, and at the same time orient the visitor to the Museum entrance and bring to mind the experience of a working airport.

Phase 1 of the plans including the new collection storage wing and the library, archives and administration wing saw completion of construction in early 2005. With the new overall plan in place, this dynamic institution continues to move forward as the 100th anniversary of Canadian powered flight in 2009 rapidly approaches. The Museum is now focusing on its next major priority—to develop a large restoration facility, in order to continue the important work of preserving Canada’ proud aerospace heritage.

Phases:

Phase 1:
Construction complete, occupancy ongoing, inauguration planned spring 2005
Next phase:
Large restoration and conservation facility

A complete plan is available in pdf format (1 page, 48K). Viewing and printing this plan requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which may be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe web site.

Press Releases associated with this project: