The museum is fighting to survive and its volunteers are working hard to prevent it from being the second military history centre to close in the Greater Toronto Area in recent weeks. The locks were changed and the doors were closed to the public at the Canadian Air and Space Museum at Downsview Park last weekend.
The Ontario Regiment Museum, located in Oshawa, is a link to history dating back to the 1850s and has about 70 operational vehicles, including the Sherman, M60 Patton and M551 Sheridan tanks, as well as a variety of armoured personnel carriers and jeeps.
“It is a constant struggle to keep the doors open,” said museum spokesman
Terry Woods. “We are in danger of having to sell some our vehicles to stay open.”
He said it takes a lot of money to maintain all the tanks and heavy equipment, plus the cost of fuel.
“Nobody wants to sell their collection of items,” Woods said Wednesday. “It will be a great shame to have the collection pieced off.”
The museum is primarily supported through fundraising, including the $100 is costs to become a member and volunteer at the museum.
A fundraising event featuring a 1945 U.S.-made Sherman tank is planned for Saturday at the museum at 1000 Stevenson Rd. N., north of Rossland Rd. and on the south side of the Oshawa airport.
The Ontario Regiment is among the oldest continuously serving reserve regiments in Canada and is one of the senior armoured regiments in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
The Ontario Regiment was officially formed from the nine independent rifle companies on Sept. 14, 1866.
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