Hoped-For Reprieve Turned Out To Be Access For The Purpose Of
An "Orderly Wind-Down" Of Operations
Toronto's Canadian Air & Space
Museum has received notice from its landlord Parc Downsview Park on
Saturday that the Park would be locking the doors and closing the
Museum to regular business. The Park, a branch of the Canadian
federal government, has control over the Museum's access after
changing the locks following Tuesday's original eviction
notice.
After delivery of the original eviction notice on the morning of
Tuesday, September 20th, and having the locks changed by early
afternoon, the Museum's staff of three and dozens of volunteers
believed they needed to vacate the premises immediately. They began
scrambling to load vehicles with important administrative documents
and remove rare artifacts and aircraft from the building, fearing
future inaccessibility to them.
Museum management says that during coverage of the initial
closing, Downsview Park advised media that it would extend the
museum's lease by six months, verbally stating the facility could
carry on business as usual, keeping its doors open to visitors,
scheduled group tours, school tours, events and birthday parties --
of which five were scheduled for this weekend.
However, an email dated Thursday, September 22 to Canadian Air
& Space Museum CEO Rob Cohen, from Parc Downsview Park's Senior
Vice-President of Operations Robert Singleton, stated that the six
month extension "was to facilitate the orderly wind-down of your
operations."... "The access to the Premises that we are permitting
is strictly for the purposes set out above."
A second email the next day, Friday, September 23, read:
"Further to our letter of last
night this is to inform you that the Park will be opening your
doors tomorrow (Saturday, September 24th) for your meeting and then
locking them after that. To protect both the Museum and the Park
from liability issues the doors will remain locked until we meet to
finalize a schedule of access. I will make myself available anytime
after 8am on Monday morning (September 26) to meet and discuss said
schedule."
Museum officials said in a news release that "these and other
messages from the Park are contradictory to verbal messages to
Museum staff and supporters, and continue the Park's reputation for
saying one thing, and acting upon another."
According to museum management:
- The Park told media that the Museum could continue to welcome
visitors and tours during the 6-months, when in fact they told the
Museum to wind down their operations with no more public
access.
- While it is true that the Museum is more than $100,000 in
arrears of its rent to Parc Downsview Park, in May 2011, new
management was put in place, which in mere months, managed to
create a viable and profitable business that could meet its monthly
contractual needs and begin to chip away at past debt. The Museum
kept in contact with the Park regarding their improved financial
situation, and all along, the Park indicated that the Museum was
safe from eviction. Meanwhile, the Park was in secret negotiations
to build the proposed 4-pad hockey arena.
- While originally, the reason for the eviction was focused on
the Museum's debt to Parc Downsvew Park, the Museum soon learned
that ALL the tenants of 65 Carl Hall Road had been served the same
eviction papers. Again revealing that the Park had been quietly
planning the clearing of this building for some time.