Cold Lake Museums facts for kids
| Established | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Location | Cold Lake Canada |
| Type | Air Force Museum, Oil and Gas, Heritage and Aboriginal |
The Cold Lake Museums are four museums that are located on the old facility of 42 Radar Squadron on the north edge of Cold Lake South. The museums included are the Cold Lake Air Force Museum, as well as the Oil and Gas, Heritage and Aboriginal Museums. Visitors enter from into the Air Force Museum First, then pass through a covered hallway to the other three museums. The museums first opened its doors on July 1, 1998. At this time, only the Heritage and Air Force Museums were open. The Aboriginal museum first opened on June 21, 2000.
The Museum is located in Cold Lake, Alberta, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) NE of Edmonton. It is on top of 'Radar Hill' on at the north-east most edge of Cold Lake South.
Air Force Museum
The Air Force Museum preserves and exhibits the history of CFB Cold Lake and of 42 Radar Squadron. 42 Radar was on this site from 1954 to 1992, so Cold War era technology is mostly on display in their exhibit. An example of this is the General Electric Height Finder Radar on display.
The Museum has much 4 Wing history on display. The current 4 Wing standing squadrons such as 409 Squadron, 410 Squadron, 419 Squadron, 1 Air Maintenance Squadron, Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment and others are displayed in the Museum. There are a few exhibits of purely historic nature, such as displays on 441 and 416, Squadrons which stood down in 2006 to be amalgamated into 409 Squadron.
The Museum also has four aircraft on display outside, including the CF-5 Freedom Fighter, CT-133 Silver Star, the CT-114 Tutor and the CT-134 Musketeer. The newest addition to the air park is a CF-188 Decoy.
Oil and Gas Museum
This exhibit was designed, researched and constructed by Grand Centre High School students. This museum explains the history of Oil and gas in the Cold Lake area from Paleolithic times to the present.
Heritage Museum
The Heritage Museum exhibits a time line of life in Cold Lake, both domestic and commercial. The museum also boasts some impressive murals.
Aboriginal Museum
The Aboriginal Museum displays the history of the Dene, Cree and Metis peoples in time lines, maps, crafts and cultural displays. There are also bears on display.
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
