Villeneuve Airport question

[Schmenky]

Very sad to see the impending closure of CYXD. An airport with great geography and history.

Tom....can you speak about the plans for the museum?
The museum is beautiful with a grand collection and deserves a high profile location preferably with a runway next to it....but....

[Tom H]

Very sad to see the impending closure of CYXD. An airport with great geography and history.

Tom....can you speak about the plans for the museum?
The museum is beautiful with a grand collection and deserves a high profile location preferably with a runway next to it....but....

I can speak to it, but I don't have any answers.

We have been working with City for a very long time and are currently undergoing a second independent consulting process with them.

Till the process is completed (Sept?) and decisions are made at the Civic level we have no answers on how things are going to turn out.

That said there are things we do know.

We are out of room...
- To the point we cannot meet demand on our education programming due to needing more classroom space on the display floor.
- We cannot display all the aircraft we have or the ones currently in restoration
- We have aircraft on outside display the should be inside...or at least in restoration being refinished but we don't have the room at the moment.
- We are happy to say that NAIT has donated the hardware and airframes from the Avionics program, but we cannot reactivate it till we have room so its in long term storage on site magnifying the problem.
- We are only about 1/2 way through our acquisition list and that is only the aircraft that directly relate to telling Edmonton's history...all the aircraft currently in the collection (60 or major portions of or major models) relate directly to telling the story of Edmonton's aviation history...we have not branched to the rest of Alberta yet or the North.
- The CF-104 is due to arrive later this year (paperwork has slowed it down).
- We are facing a HVAC replacement in the not to distant future, when that happens we move to the new code and restoration will have to move out of the building.

There are more but those are enough for this conversation...

Until we have answers from the City we cannot make firm plans, but we are investigating many options. Till answers come down we are being optimistic

Till we get some answers nothing much more to say.

Tom

[Schmenky]

Thanks Tom,

I wish you and your valuable staff and volunteers all the very best as you face the upcoming challenges. I know that the board will meet those challenges head on and will continue to offer great programming and beautiful exhibits for all the aero-nuts out there.

Keep up the excellent work and we appreciate your updates.

[1000 HP]

Ok make this easy for me. I want to whine and complain to the turkeys in charge of closing the City Center Airport. Will it help? Where do I send my tastefully written hate mail? Post an e-mail or mailing address if possible. Recently I went to see a heart specialist in Edmonton and walked there from City Center Airport in just over 10 minutes. Minutes count....

As far as Villineuve goes, last time I drove there it seemed a bit creepy and out of the way...

I guess CYEG is ok but landing there takes a large chunk of change out of the pocketbook. $72 last time if I remember correctly. Ouch! (As I limp away clutching my behind)...And facilities for us little guys are fairly gross. How about cardlock and a nice parking area with decent tiedowns? And perhaps and elevated LRT with a stop at the Fantasyland Hotel after looping through the hospital? Actually, even if we could somehow keep the City Center open an LRT would be nice. I do like the runway on the mall idea for sure. Just my thoughts...

[Tom H]

Ok make this easy for me. I want to whine and complain to the turkeys in charge of closing the City Center Airport. Will it help? Where do I send my tastefully written hate mail? Post an e-mail or mailing address if possible.

As we go through this process with the City of Edmonton the museum, board and staff are tied to the "due process" (man I hate that expression) and can't advocate screaming and yelling.

However, if you wished to write anyway it would likely be best the mayor and your councilor. If you don't live in Edmonton I would suggest the mayor, your mla, Speaker of the house (Gene just made some interesting comments on history and heritage) and the premier.

I'll update when I know more

Tom