Yellowknife (Oct 27/04) - A $5 million expansion and renovation at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is set to tell the tale of the North's legendary aviators.

The story of nation building in Canada is incomplete without a tribute to the aviators who opened up Canada's North, said Robert Engle, chair of the Northern Aviation Heritage Foundation, during a reception at his home in Yellowknife last Thursday evening.

Both Engle and Don Yamkowy, the foundation's executive director, are looking to provide a major boost to tourism traffic in Yellowknife through the expansion of the aviation display at the museum. The foundation and the Government of the Northwest Territories are equal partners in the project, said Engle.

The Fox Moth restored aircraft at the museum will be suspended with overhead wiring by the summer of 2005. The new aviation wing is expected to be complete in the summer of 2006.

David Jensen, of Jensen Associates in Vancouver, is the architect for the project. He was responsible for the Northwest Territories' Expo '86 exhibit and acts as a joint consultant on the project for the foundation and the government.

The refurbished and new galleries will make use of audio-visual displays, as well as the Internet to produce a more interactive -- as opposed to static -- display, said Engle.

Yamkowy said the foundation is set to educate the people of the North.

"We're going to tell the story of the heroes," he said.

The central theme for the aviation gallery will be Journeys -- whether it's daring rescues, precedent-setting searches, or stories of lives saved through the use of aircraft.

"Some exhibits might be narrated by the pilots, or perhaps people who know or knew them," according to a statement released by the foundation.