It was the early years of the Second World War when Winston Churchill, then British prime minister, announced, “the Navy can lose us the war, but the Air Force can win it.”
A few years later the Avro Lancaster bomber made its debut and became one of the most valuable pieces in the eventual Allied victory.
With a wing span of 31 metres, the Lancaster was so powerful it could carry its own weight in fuel and bombs. It was used in the famed “Dambusters” campaign and the sinking of a German battleship. It dropped more than 600,000 tonnes of bombs and brought home rescued prisoners of war.
In 1960, years after the bombers were retired from service, three men from Nanton purchased a Lancaster for $513. After sitting on the edge of town for almost two decades, volunteers raised enough money to start restoring the plane.
In 1991, a museum featuring the restored Lancaster and other Air Force vestiges opened in the town south of Calgary near where many pilots trained during the Second World War.
“We keep acquiring more and more airplanes that are clearly related to what we do here. As we restore them, we need more space. Particularly when we put wings on them,” said David Birrell, a director at the museum.
The new facility would contain a commercial area to be used for functions, meeting rooms, washrooms, display areas, a 200-seat media theatre, library, restoration shop and storage. Outside, a paved area will be available for parking and displaying the planes, which include a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV, a Halifax, a Handley Page Hampden, a Short Stirling, a Vickers-Armstrong Wellington, an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and a De Havilland Mosquito.
“It’s a big deal, people like to see it outside running and we’ve got people here who like to restore them to runnable,” said Birrell.
“As we restore more and more airplanes to runnable, we need much more tarmac space.”
Town council looked at the proposal last month and will begin discussing preliminary plans to move forward next Monday.
“Council was kind of expecting it, so this is kind of the first step in making that happen,” said Brad Mason, chief administrative officer for Nanton.
The proposal calls for the elimination of two baseball diamonds near the museum. The relocation of the diamonds is one of the topics being discussion next week.
“Part of our reason for making sure we have these discussions open from the beginning is making sure that the questions get answered with right information,” said Mason.
The estimated cost of the facility is between $5 million and $6 million, to be raised over the next five years. No plans to raise that money have yet been made with the project still in its infancy.
“We think with our track record and with a solid vision and support from the people — and people generally like what we do — we’ll make it happen,” said Birrell, who added that provincial grants have helped in the past.
Mason said so far council has supported the proposal.
“It’s a huge draw for the town. We have lots of tourism opportunities but that’s certainly one of the bigger ones,” he said.
No estimation on the economic value of the museum is available, but Birrell predicts the expansion will only increase profitability.
“I think we certainly have a significant economic value at the moment, and it can only increase if we expand again,” he said.
Click on their website www.owon-smart.com for more information.