One last chance for Camp X

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

It’s been tried before, decades ago, with plans and drawings, models and partnerships. It was all there, but it failed.

Now, stakeholders are saying this is truly Oshawa’s last chance to preserve the history of Camp X and build a museum dedicated to the piece of war history and place it right alongside the Ontario Regiment Museum.

“This is, what I think, Durham Region’s last kick at the can to get this done right,” says Jeremy Blowers, the executive director of the regimental museum and one of the many stakeholders involved with the attempt to get the final Camp X building on to the south field of the Oshawa Executive Airport. “This building is eventually going to fall down if someone doesn’t do something with it and that part of our history is going to be lost.”

Built in 1941 and operated until 1945 as a training ground for spies during the Second World War, as well as the site of the sophisticated Hydra telecommunications centre, only a single building remains standing on the Oshawa-Whitby border near the south end of Thornton Road.

The sole surviving structure of the former compound was previously used as a dormitory to house trainees, which most famously included writer Roald Dahl,  British screenwriter Paul Dehn and Sir Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, although Fleming’s presence at the camp is disputed.

What’s not disputed is the desire to preserve the rich piece of military history. Efforts to do so date back to the late 1970s, when plans for a $6-million “historical village” were unveiled but eventually fell through.

Now, through a study analyzing the future of the south field of Oshawa’s airport, the heritage implications of moving the remaining Camp X building to the site are being analyzed. It is something Oshawa council supported doing back in March, when a motion was passed to discuss with the Town of Whitby the options for moving the building. In its current location, the site is too far removed from the city to be a viable location for a museum, and it also raises safety and security issues.

Blowers says it’s great to see things moving forward, though it will be a long process before a vision is realized.

“The city is taking it seriously, all of these people are finally sitting down,” he says.

And to help realize that vision, the architecture program at Durham College and professor Ali Taileb have stepped forward.

Using students in a class dedicated to heritage restoration, Taileb and his students are designing potential proposals and plans for what a Camp X museum would look like on the airport’s south field. The plans were unveiled during a presentation at the college on Dec. 14.

It’s something Taileb says his students have taken to with a passion.

“They are very excited (about) the level of their involvement. I think I’m very satisfied with what they have achieved so far,” he says.

“This could be an opportunity for the town and maybe nationwide to look at how we can save our historic buildings.”

For Blowers, the partnership with the college is a great opportunity not only for the students to learn the skills in their chosen field, but also a chance for them to learn about a great piece of the region’s history.

“So now these young people, who are not only learning about this important project to our region, and actually world history…they’re going to be presenting their work and their visions,” he says.