Terry Fox's iconic Van of Hope is coming to Calgary

An iconic piece of Canadian history will soon be on display at Calgary's Heritage Park.

Terry Fox's "Van of Hope," which served as his home on the road during his cross-Canada Marathon of Hope in 1980 to raise money and awareness for cancer research, will be parked at Gasoline Alley.

"We've been able to use it to cross the country with exhibitions, either with other artifacts or on its own, to try and recount this Terry story and try and keep that memory alive in everyone's mind," said Phil Aldrich, director of the Terry Fox Centre.

"It ended up as a huge Canadian icon that is recognizable from anywhere by anybody."

Fox's brother Darrell and family friend Doug Alward travelled in the Ford Econoline van as Fox ran 5,373 kilometres from Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ont., where he was forced to end his journey.

"It's kind of cool to reflect on the memories. It was Terry's home away from home. That's where he slept. It was there for every Marathon of Hope mile that he ran. So it's a pretty precious commodity to us," Darrell said.

"It was his office, and it was where he really prepared for the marathon. Outside the van was more of a happy moment and happy times, but within it was quite a stressful space because that's where Terry was preparing to run the next mile."

Doug Alward poses in front of the van he drove during Terry Fox's during the media viewing of a Terry Fox exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Wednesday April 1, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

The Van of Hope comes to Calgary just a week before the annual Terry Fox Run, slated for Sept. 17.

"Terry's legacy is one of hope and hard work," said Kevin Graham, chief operating officer at Heritage Park.

"We are honoured to have this piece of Canadian history come to Gasoline Alley, especially at the same time of year when millions of Canadians will be honouring Terry in the annual Terry Fox Run across the country."

Kesia Kvill, Heritage Park's chief curator, says while the van is one of the most modern artifacts in the historic village, it's also one of the most culturally significant.

"This one really has an importance to the cultural zeitgeist of Canada," Kvill said.

"It was really a movement and I think he had a really important impact on our society and how we fundraise for cancer and how we talk about cancer."

The van, which will be available for public viewing on Sept. 9, comes to Heritage Park after a long and storied journey.

Originally loaned to Fox by Ford Motor Company, the van was returned to a London, Ont., dealership after the Marathon of Hope ended.

It was sold to two different families over the next 20 years before being given to Vancouver, B.C., resident Bill Johnston, who used it as a touring vehicle for his band Removal.

"They knew what they had, that it was Terry's Marathon of Hope van." Darrell said.

"They said that they felt his presence within the van.

"It never let them down. Just like Terry, it just kept running. They (had) accumulated over 300,000 miles on the van when we found it in 2007."

In 2005, Darrell discovered the vehicle in East Vancouver and purchased it.

Ford Canada then donated the repairs and restoration.

The vehicle accompanied Fox on his run the entire 143 days he was on the road, and it will be at Heritage Park for the same length of time.