The $10.3 million Legacy Beacon, that houses the restored Streetcar No. 351, will be unveiled to the public next week.
The grand opening, including a formal ceremony with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, will take place on Thursday, April 24 at 11 a.m.
Streetcar No. 351 is one of the last remaining cars from Windsor's streetcar system that stopped operations in 1939. The first electric streetcar in Canada was operated by the Windsor Electric Railway in 1886. Streetcar No. 351 was built in 1918 by the Cincinnati Car Company and was purchased used by the Sandwich, Windsor and Amherstburg Railway around 1926.
The City of Windsor acquired and restored the streetcar in 2017.
"This streetcar is a relic from Windsor’s past — one of those unique artefacts that is important because it is truly authentic to the city of Windsor’s history,” said Dilkens. “When I began conversations with (the late) George Sofos and Van Niforos, who were in possession of the streetcar, and later City Council and administration, I had no clear idea of what we were going to do, but I knew we had to do something. This streetcar is an important piece of Windsor’s history. I didn’t want the last of three remaining cars that operated here to be sold and moved outside of Windsor."
The streetcar is now housed in the Legacy Beacon on Riverside Drive between Caron Avenue and Janette Avenue.
Celebrations of the new facility will continue from Thursday, April 24, to Sunday, April 27, 2025.
Museum Windsor staff will be on-site for tours daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The concession vendor will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Family entertainment is scheduled between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.