Reynolds Museum

The museum's initial collection originated from the private collections of Stan Reynolds; who acquired a large number of agricultural machines, airplanes, and automobiles through trade-ins he would accept at a car dealership he operated. By 1955, Reynolds had acquired enough vehicles to open a "private museum" to exhibit his collection. Desires to have his collection permanently displayed in a public museum led Reynolds to discuss the possibility of donating the collection to the provincial government in 1974; which eventually resulted in him donating 850 artifacts to the government of Alberta between 1981 and 1986. The Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame was also relocated from the Edmonton Convention Centre to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum after the building was completed The hall of fame was housed at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum until 2022, when it was relocated to The Hangar Flight Museum in Calgary. Stan Reynolds continued to donate artifacts to the museums collection after the institution opened, with Reynolds donating another 60 aircraft in 1999; the largest donation of vintage aircraft in Canadian history. In August 2017, the provincial government announced it would provide over million to the museum over the next three years; with approximately million being used to expand the museum by , as well as creating an aviation storage facility. In August 2019, the federal government also committed funds towards the expansion project. However, in March 2020, Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women announced that construction would not proceed as planned, with the expansion plans placed on hold. ==Site==

The museum is located on an property in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The property is adjacent to Wetaskiwin Regional Airport, and is situated near the eastern portion of Alberta Highway 13 before it branches north. Three major buildings are situated on the property; the main museum building, the aviation display hangar, and the collections storage facility. The main museum building is and houses the museum's exhibition gallery. The gallery has a number of artifacts from the museum's collection on display, in addition to several interactive displays on mechanization and how it changed life in Alberta from the 1890s to the present. The display hangar is a hangar connected to Wetaskiwin Regional Airport, and is used to exhibit airplanes from the museum's collection. The storage facility houses artifacts from the museum's collection which are not on exhibit in its main building nor at its aviation display hangar. ==Collections==

The museum's collection originated from the private collections of Stan Reynolds, who donated a number of items to the government of Alberta in 1981, and later the museum after it was opened in 1992. In addition to items donated by Reynolds, artifacts in the collection were either purchased by the museum or were gifted to the institution by members of the public, and the Reynolds Heritage Preservation Foundation. 200-B power shovel, and a Bucyrus Class 24 from the museum's collection As of April 2019, the museum's collection contained approximately 6,600 agricultural, industrial, and transportation artifacts. In addition to machinery, the museum's collection also includes a number of documents relating to mechanization in industry and transportation. The Bucyrus Class 24 the world's oldest existing dragline excavator. Newer vehicles in the museum's collection include the BugE, an electric vehicle donated to the museum. In 2018, the museum acquired one of the two McLaughlin-Buick automobiles used by the royal family during the 1939 royal tour of Canada; in addition to other related memorabilia from the tour. from the museum's collection suspended in the air at the aviation display hangar The museum's collection also includes 135 aircraft; Resource Centre The museum's resource centre contains the largest publicly accessible library of trade literature in North America, containing more than 70,000 items including service manuals, parts catalogues, technical leaflets, periodicals, and books. ==See also==