Civil Defence Museum to conduct tours in May

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

A group of dedicated individuals are devoted to preserving history. More specifically, they want to keep the story of the Canadian Forces Station at Alsask alive and well. Fred Armbruster is the founder and executive director of the Canadian Civil Defence Museum and Archives (CCDMA).

In 2018 this group took over the last standing intact radar tower in Canada, after it had been unattended since the early 1990’s. At that time pigeons which had taken up residence, needed to be evicted before the site was opened up to the public in 2019.

A white radar dome in a fenced compound is one of the very prominent structures of the former Canadian Forces Station at Alsask. The tower, which was designed to measure distance of the aircraft, was originally one of three towers in CFS Alsask. It was built in 1961, as part of a network of radar installations meant to serve as an early warning system against Soviet bombers. The other two towers detected the height of incoming aircraft. The information was then fed to a nearby ground-to-air radio site where it Could be relayed to fighter jets dispatched to intercept the threat.

We will be conducting tours and events this year from May through October. For tour dates and schedule, we suggest following our Facebook page, or check our website civildefencemuseum.ca/cfs-Alsask-tour-dates-and-events

“As the founder of the museum, my motivation is preserving and sharing this important part of our Canadian Cold War history,” Armbruster said, and continued to further explain.

“The project is extremely costly and time consuming. We have a number of fixed costs that donations and sponsorships cover. The additional costs of restoration and upgrading the site for a more of an interpretive experience is all dependent on the donations we receive as we are not funded by any level of government. So, in essence, the donors are directly reflected in the project by seeing the level of success.”

Armbruster said the project will always be on-going to ensure a new experience every time the public comes to visit. This work is dedicated to the men and women who dedicated their careers to watching the skies to keep Canadians and Americans safe.

PHOTOS COURTESY CANADIAN CIVIL DEFENCE MUSEUM & ARCHIVES