A slice of history: Bushplane museum cuts the cake on its 30th anniversary (2 photos)

The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (CBHC) celebrated its 30th anniversary Tuesday during an event featuring a number of people representing the centre’s past and present.

“I’m totally surprised being able to stand here 30 years later and look around and see what has actually been accomplished,” said Bob Thomas, who served as the board’s first-ever president.

Thomas - who worked in the Ministry of Natural Resources’ aviation and forest fire management while trying to get the CBHC off the ground - says that the introduction of the bushplane really opened the door to the development of northern Ontario.

“Previously, totally remote communities who were virtually inaccessible, and along came the aircraft - they brought in mail, they brought in food, they brought in medical supplies,” said Thomas during the anniversary celebration. “They took people out, they gave an opportunity for prospectors and others to get in and actually work in the bush without having to take canoes and dogsleds to access these site.”

“So it really opened up a lot of commerce and business for the developing in northern Ontario.”

Current board president Kim Park says the bushplane museum has weathered its share of difficulties over the years.

“In 2001 when I came in and sat down at my first board meeting, not knowing what to expect, the discussions were whether or not we would be in a position to liquidate and close,” said Park. “Where we are today is not something that I’m going to take credit for, but that’s the kind of situation, the precarious situation, that museums - or facilities like this - could be in, and yet as the result of all of the commitment of the volunteers, there’s just so much input - from ideas and heavy lifting, and getting jobs done.”

Park motioned to a section of the museum that’s now used as a kitchen of sorts for events that are held at the CBHC.

“We’re always a dollar short, so by putting in this reheat facility and hosting events in here, it was another bit of revenue that was an enabler to help pay the power, pay the wages - there’s just no end to what the expenses are,” he said.

Now, thanks to contributions from all levels of government, the bushplane museum is undergoing a series of renovations that will see the museum’s current event space relocated to the east side of the building.

The new event space is expected to open next month.

“If you walk in here on any given day, it’s either a vacant hole because we’re setting up for an event, or going to set up for an event, or it is set up for an event,” Park said. “You’re coming to see the story, but you’re looking at a bunch of tables and chairs, so with the investment from the three levels of government that has enabled us to host events at the east end of the hangar, that is now a contained event space.”

Entomica will also be housed inside the bushplane museum - with a new, 1500 square-foot terrarium to boot.

It’s anticipated that the insect display could open July 1.  

“It helps meet our science mandate, it’s another reason for the families to bring their friends and their children in here,” Park said. “The correlation between the bugs of Entomica, the bugs of the nature exchange, how the bugs affect the forest - that’s where the tie-in is.”

Park says the changes to the museum will provide people with a “better presentation of the story” that the CBHC has to offer its visitors. 

“We tell a story,” he said. “People come from all over North America - actually, all over the world - to come to the bushplane because they’re interested to hear that story and to see the collection and the artifacts.”