The Canadian Air and Space Museum has shuttered its doors and may resort to selling their artifacts if a deal can’t be made with their former landlords following their eviction, according to one official.
“We might as well just sell everything off,” said Robert Cohen, CEO of the Canadian Air and Space Museum. The museum needs to be near a runway, he said, which means finding another location will be next to impossible.
The dispute dates back to September when the museum, six months behind in rent, was served with a notice of eviction.
This came as a shock to museum employees, said Cohen. He added that he thought they had worked out a deal with the building’s landlords, crown corporation Parc Downsview Park (PDP) but then found the locks changed on Sept. 20.
They had begun the process of repaying the rent, he said. “This isn’t a matter about paying our rent. We can pay it.”
PDP board chair David Soknacki said the building is in disrepair and would cost millions to fix. The crown corporation has leased the land, for the next 25 years, to a private company that will build a four-pad hockey arena on it to help address the city’s arena shortage. The park won’t ask the museum to pay the owed rent and will allow museum staff limited access to the site in order to fulfill prior obligations and reservations.
The museum recently received support from Toronto City Council when it passed a motion asking the federal government to intervene.
Willowdale councillor David Shiner, who seconded the city’s motion, said, “This is a building that was built by taxpayers, on land that was paid for by taxpayers. [The] least they can do is leave the museum there instead of building a commercial arena.”
Cohen said the museum is already fielding calls from buyers interested in its prized Avro Arrow replica — the only one in existence. The North York Soccer Association, among others, are also being evicted.
