I Will Remember - Je Me souviendrai

THE MUSEUM

The HMCS ALBERNI Museum is located in the heart of downtown Courtenay British Columbia.

Formerly located in the centre of Comox British Columbia until September 2016, HAMM moved the short 6km northward and across the bay to a totally renovated facility originally built in 1946 as a tire and battery shop.  The portion of the building that houses HAMM was once the service bays of what is now known as the Courtenay Mall (the first indoor mall in the Comox Valley during the mid 60's).  Special care was given to keep the original timbers and construction of the interior space while upgrading the walls, electrical system, and special high traffic flooring. HAMM reopened to the public on 16 January 2017.

HAMM is divided into four sections, plus external window display areas in the main 6th Street hallway. The William K Leslie Wing houses stories and artefacts of the Great War as well as a video viewing area for a large selection of DVD and VHS films and documentaries that have been donated to TAPS over the years.  We have a small lending library (for TAPS members) of books on the topic of maritime or war themes plus research material and books available through our reception desk.  Our small gift shop is located near our main door (cash, Visa, and M/C accepted -sorry, no debit available at this time).  And our main exhibit hall begins at the entrance way and winds its way to the Memorial Wall.

HAMM is free to the public but we do accept donations which support TAPS programs, including the museum.  If you would like to give a donation or sign our guest book we encourage you to do so as you leave.  You may also pick up a TAPS membership application at our reception desk.

Most of the stories and artefacts on display change often as new items are donated to our museum.  Many of the displays are personal memorials to various Canadians of items donated by families across Canada.  Due to our small size and our large collection, many of our documents, artefacts, and photos are in our archives but will soon be accesseible through in-museum tablets which will list our entire collections related to each display area.

HAMM is accessible with normal wheelchairs and walkers.  Free 2 hour parking is located across Cliffe Avenue, on any downtown street, and in the Library parking lot 1/2 block to the west.  Handicap parking is available in the "paid" parking lot on the south side of our building and on 6th Street across from our 6th Street entrance.

Downtown Courtenay has many delightful stores and eating establishments to fill in your day to the museum.  The average visitor spends about an hour or two in the museum, depending on how serious of a museum hound you are. This gives you plenty of time to see what else downtown Courtenay has to offer.

Nearby attractions are 1. the Estuary trail which begins directly across the street from the museum and follows the tidal river area for several kilometres, 2. the Courtenay District Museum and Paleontology Centre two blocks north of HAMM, 3. both Lewis and Simms Millenium Park two blocks to the east, 4. Vancouver Island Library one block west, 5. Comox Valley Art Gallery across 6th street and the Library.

All of our signage and labeling has been optimized for use with the Google Translate App available for Android and Apple devices.

The "I WILL REMEMBER" and  "JE ME SOUVIENDRAI" POPPY LOGO IS A TRADEMARK of the Alberni Project Society.  Use of either English or French logo is prohibited without expressed written permission from the Alberni Project Society

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