Organization looking for permanent home to house Terry Fox collection

The Terry Fox Centre is looking for a permanent home to house more than 1,000 artifacts connecting to Fox and his legacy.

The collection is currently in storage and has temporarily been moved around the country to display items connected to the inspirational Canadian.

“Our goal would be to find a permanent home to house the artifacts and tell the story,” B.C. Centre chair Rob Reid said in an interview.

“Betty Fox, before she passed away, said the next generation might not know the story like the generation that lived the Marathon of Hope. We want to make sure this lives on.”

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The goal is to find a permanent home by 2030, the 50th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.

The collection includes the camper van Fox used for the entirety of his run, the jug of water collected from the Atlantic Ocean and a variety of shoes and prosthetics.

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Fox ran 5,373 kilometres and the van was used for the entirety of the run.

The centre is looking at locations in Port Coquitlam, downtown Vancouver and potentially Victoria.

“I am in retail. So location, location, location is important. Tourism is important and figuring out how can we get as many people through the centre as we can,” Reid said.

“Terry represents the values of Canada. That selflessness he displayed.”

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Reid and the Terry Fox Centre have started meetings with the B.C. government about financial support.

In these situations, organizations often are required to do fundraising to cover costs with a permanent space but the Terry Fox Centre is concerned about taking money that would go to cancer research.

To date, the Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $850 million dollars primarily for cancer research.

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“We have to find a financial structure that works. We want people to give to cancer research. We don’t want them to give to us to show this as much,” Reid said.

The provincial government will be part of an early conversation with the Royal BC Museum and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

The Sports Hall of Fame is located at BC Place, which is overseen by the province through PAVCO.

“This could be a wonderful place for folks to gather and reflect on the work Terry did. The Terry Fox Foundation has been incredibly successful to raise funds for cancer research and this is part of the story,” B.C. tourism minister Lana Popham said.