The Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation wants to store millions of videos, films and other recordings 60 storeys underground in an old Norad bunker in North Bay. The idea is to be able to preserve the vast electronic record of Canadian history. The CBMF is talking to federal officials about turning the complex into a secure storehouse for the country’s endangered audio-visual archive. It would also include photographs, scripts, set designs and other items.
The foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to preserving broadcast heritage. It’s working with the CBC to document its analog collection dating from the 1930s. The space needed to safeguard the CBC/Radio-Canada collections alone will be about one million cubic feet according to officials. The foundation is also aware of significant collections being held in areas around the country. Including these materials would require another 800,000 to one million cubic feet according to estimates.
Officials say it’s absolutely critical to preserve the originals even after they are copied into digital formats.
