The town has already turned Friday the 13th into
a good day, and now they’re talking about going a step further: developing a
motorcycle museum in Port Dover, Ontario.
People at the location of the Friday the 13th
motorcycle event — which occurs every time Friday falls on the 13th
day of the month and can draw thousands of motorcyclists in a good (warm) month
— are considering using an abandoned building and a waterfront location to
develop a museum of motorcycles and a public park facility.
The museum would be located in a former fish plant, a large
complex of brick buildings on the Lynn River close to the north shore of Lake
Erie in southern Ontario. The operator of the plant moved to a new facility two
years ago and the complex has been for sale ever since. It’s worth about $1.5
million, and some private investment would be necessary in order to pull it
off.
But the University of Guelph is involved, with students in
the university’s planning department preparing drawings for a riverfront park,
which they will show to the local council soon.
“There are a great number of collectors who would love to
have a home for their motorcycles,” Port Dover resident David McCleary told the
Simcoe Reformer newspaper.
Backers for the proposal, which is only a dream at this
stage, would like the local town council to spearhead a drive to enlist public
and private financial support for the concept. McLeary said he hopes county
staff will “bring together the many groups who may be interested” in the
project. “The biking community gets a museum … and Port Dover gets a riverfront
park.”
Meanwhile the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame, founded a
few years ago by motorcycle collector Bar Hodgson and the Motorcyclists
Confederation of Canada, is still looking for a building to house
displays. The Port Dover proposal says nothing about working with the museum,
which currently does not occupy a real space but does have members and a board of
directors — but maybe there’s potential for some kind of partnership there. With the tourists that PD13 and other local events draw, a motorcycle museum there might thrive.
they should plan on doing a fund raiser on the next friday 13…..
i hope they can get the fish smell out! 😡
If you build it…
PD is a destination for bikes every weekend – not just Friday the 13th. On a nice weekend you can see 100’s of all types.
A museum would be a natural progression in the history of bikes and PD.
I hope Council sees it as a great tourist attraction rather than a place that loses money (museums generally do and require taxes to operate if it’s municipally owned)
I have attended the event on numerous occasions over the years and a Bike Museum would be a great addition to the festival that is PD Friday the 13th..
I agree this is a great idea.
BRING IT ON !!!!