B.C. premier, Vancouver mayor back Terry Fox museum

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British Columbia's Premier and the mayor of Vancouver have both declared their support for a Vancouver-based museum honouring Canadian icon Terry Fox but acknowledged concerns about finding a location and paying for it.

The comments from Christy Clark and Gregor Robertson come after the president and chief executive officer of Vancity, one of Canada's largest credit unions, volunteered to lead a push for a museum, which would display some of the thousands of artifacts from Mr. Fox's life and would also educate the public on cancer research.

Tamara Vrooman, who was recruited by the Fox family, told The Globe and Mail this week that she is working to build a team to raise money, secure land and get the structure built in the "coming couple of years."

On Thursday, Mr. Robertson said he "absolutely" supports the idea of a Terry Fox museum in the city but cautioned that land issues may be a challenge for advocates of the idea.

He said a series of Terry Fox sculptures by artist Douglas Coupland, unveiled at BC Place in 2011, were an important step in paying tribute to Mr. Fox but were not enough.

"Ultimately, I think something more substantial needs to recognize a great hero from our coast here," Mr. Robertson said.

Asked whether he supported a standalone building or putting such a facility in an existing complex, the mayor said, "It's not easy to find space or existing buildings that are appropriate. … It's a work-in-progress. I know there are a lot of people and support behind having a Terry Fox building here."

Mr. Fox, a distance runner who was born in Manitoba but raised in Surrey and Port Coquitlam, lost a leg to cancer as a teenager. Three years later, with an artificial leg, he launched a run across Canada in a bid to raise money for cancer research. He began in St. John's in April, 1980, but the return of his cancer forced him to stop a few months later, just outside Thunder Bay, after raising $1.7-million. People around the world inspired by his story still raise money by running.

Mr. Robertson acknowledged that his office has been in touch with the Fox family, "looking at options here in Vancouver," but did not elaborate on the nature of those discussions.

Meanwhile, Ms. Clark said she has talked with the family about the issue a few times.

"I am really enthusiastic about a national Terry Fox museum being located in the Lower Mainland, probably Vancouver," Ms. Clark told reporters in Victoria on Wednesday. "There have been a number of proposals for sites. They know I am delighted to help – Terry Fox is a national hero. He is from British Columbia. He is the ideal picture of how ordinary, average people can make a tremendous difference in the world, and we want to do what we can to celebrate that for our whole country."

Asked about financial support for such a project, Ms. Clark said, "It depends on what the proposal looks like."

She said her team has been supporting the Fox family in talks with the federal government, seeking national museum status and searching for a location, but did not elaborate on the outcome of those talks.

"This is being driven by the Fox family, as it should be, and I don't want to impose my ideas of what it should look like on them," she said.

"We're happy to support them wherever we can because this Terry Fox museum matters for all Canadians."

A spokesperson for Ms. Vrooman said the Vancity executive would not be available to comment on the comments by Ms. Clark and Mr. Robertson.

The Fox family has talked about a museum, but in 2013, Terry Fox's younger brother Darrell said it was up to the public to decide what to do with the tens of thousands of artifacts he has collected.

Terry Fox is the subject of an exhibition at the Canadian Museum of History, in Gatineau, that features items such as the jug of Atlantic water that Mr. Fox scooped up and intended to pour into the Pacific at the end of his journey. Meanwhile, thousands of other items, including cards, letters and drawings that people sent him, have been stored at a Library and Archives Canada vault in Burnaby.