January 29, 2009 — February is West Carleton Month

Press Release
January 29, 2009

CARP, ON: Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum, will be hosting its first-ever West Carleton month this February. Township residents will receive a free tour of the museum upon presentation of a promotional coupon. The Diefenbunker hopes to encourage the local community to visit and learn about “From 60 to 500 in two years or less,” the $1.5 million fundraising campaign the museum has launched to increase visitor capacity.

To take advantage of West Carleton month, visitors just have to cut out the coupons from the West Carleton Review Weekender or the West Carleton EMC, fill them out and call 613-839-0007 to reserve their spot on a public tour. Coupons can be redeemed at the admissions desk of the museum, located at 3911 Carp Road in Carp.

The museum hopes to raise the $1.5 million needed to retrofit the building to allow greater visitor occupancy and preserve this National Historic Site of Canada. Executive Director Alexandra Badzak is heading up the campaign along with the Diefenbunker’s Board of Directors. The museum has created a program for potential sponsors, donors and members to contribute.

The money will be used to bring the building up to code so that the occupancy level can be increased from the current 60 persons to its historic level of 500. This will allow for greater numbers of tours and expanded programming, leading to increased public service and revenue generation. The museum has seen such an increase in interest from the public that visitors have had to be turned away due to occupancy limits which hamper attendance growth.

Further details about West Carleton Month at the Diefenbunker can be found at www.diefenbunker.ca. The event runs February 1-28.

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“From 60 to 500 in two years or less” contact: Alexandra Badzak, Executive Director, at (613) 839-0007 x.222 or a.badzak@diefenbunker.ca

Media contact: Jesse Alexander, Public Relations and Programs Manager, at (613) 839-0007 x.224 or j.alexander@diefenbunker.ca.