By Rick Pusiak
A project that retired police Insp. Bob Cowley has dreamed of and worked on for years is about to become a reality.
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Sudbury police Insp, Bob Cowley (right) and Supt. Emile Lavigne, both retired, are thrilled the Sudbury Regional Police Museum opens soon |
On April 25, the Sudbury Region Police Museum officially opens in a large room on the third floor of police headquarters at Tom Davies Square.
The idea for the museum started in the late 1970s as Cowley was helping document the history of the local constabulary in a 1978 hardcover publication entitled 12 o'clock and All is Well.
Several artifacts were discovered by the authors, including guns dating back to 1898 and photographs from the turn of the last century, but there was no place to display them.
When plans were announced in the 1990s to move local police from a couple of overcrowded downtown buildings to what was then known as Civic Square, Cowley thought it would be an ideal location for a museum. He called retired Supt. Emile Lavigne and the campaign began.
Space was approved in 1998 and donations and grants solicited to cover the $125,000 cost of the display area.
"It's the museum's hope that this display will increase the respect and pride of the community in its police services and serve as an inspiration to the present and future members," said Cowley.
"When tomorrow becomes yesterday the record of their efforts will add another proud chapter to the history of Sudbury law enforcement."
A large painted mural depicting police scenes greets visitors as they walk out of the elevator. It also lists all the police organizations that have existed in Sudbury from the CPR police at Sudbury Junction in 1883 to the Whitefish Lake First Nations Police Service formed in 1992.
The door leading to the museum is right around the corner and is a re-creation of the front entrance of the old police station that was located on Elgin Street where the Christ the King seniors centre now stands.
The door handles are the original ones. One came via Rev. Father Brian McKee, while the other was donated through police officer Ron Jodouin.
An old fashioned round light cover provides the finishing antique touch at the top of the door.
Keeping with the police theme there's a small office inside the museum where visitors will be "booked".
Cowley and Lavigne were getting items ready for display when Northern Life paid a visit last week.
They explained that when display cases arrive from the manufacturer in the coming days the cabinets will be placed against the ?police blue? coloured walls and take the visitor on a decade by decade tour through time, demonstrating how uniforms, equipment and weaponry have changed.
Sadly, the risk of being killed in the line of duty has remained constant.
One of the items to be displayed is a copy of legislation passed after the death of Sgt. Rick McDonald, who was hit and killed by a stolen minivan in July of 1999.
Ottawa produced Bill C-202 which made it a criminal offence to use a motor vehicle to flee and evade police.
The provincial legislature passed the Sgt. Rick McDonald Act which provides for court-ordered driver's licence suspensions of not less than 10 years and up to life.
Other officers who have lost their lives on duty or in combat are also remembered in the museum, including Const. Albert Nault, who was shot in 1931 and Sgt. Fred Davidson, who died after being shot seven times in 1937.
Two officers, Const. Edward Terrell and Const. Gerard Dault, were felled by bullets on a single day in 1949.
A member of the Copper Cliff police force, Const. Ernie Paul, was shot at the Inco Hotel in Creighton in 1955.
Acting Sgt. Laurier Quesnell was fatally wounded in 1968.
Twenty-five years later Const. Joe MacDonald was shot to death while on routine patrol.
Fred Street died in the First World War in Belgium.
George Miller, a fireman with the merchant navy, was lost at sea during the Second World War.
Lionel St. Louis, Hubert Lafrance, Morley Loyst, all members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, lost their lives in training crashes in the 1939-45 conflict.
Due to the size of the museum, room attendance at the ribbon-cutting will be by invitation only.
Hours of operation have yet to be determined but it will likely be open two days a week.
Because the museum is in a high-security building a special system had to be developed for visits.
In the coming weeks a phone will be installed in the downstairs lobby at police headquarters that visitors will be able to pick up, talk directly to the museum volunteer on duty, and arrange to be escorted to the third floor.
School visits will be arranged through the Crime Prevention Branch.
