Original Tim Hortons store to get museum makeover

The original Tim Hortons store in Hamilton, Ont., will be revamped into a two-storey building that will includea collection of memorabilia from the chain's 50-year historyon the second floor.

And to celebrate the store's new status as the chain's de facto museum,the chain is planning a block party around store No. 1, at the corner of Ottawa Street North and Dunsmure Road in the east end of Hamilton.

"It's important that people understand this is where we came from," said David Clanachan, Tim Hortons chief operating officer at an announcement today.

He also told the CBC that the block party will happen in "four to eight weeks," he said.

Clanachan said the block party is not meant to make amends for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic chain by briefly recreating store No. 1 in Toronto.

Read More:Tim Hortons recreates original Hamilton store in Toronto

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"It was a timing issue on our part," Clanachan said after a cake-cutting ceremony, sayingplans for a celebration in Hamilton onthe chain's official 50th birthday weren't ready.

"We really wanted to celebrate something onMay 17," Clanachan added, referring to the chain's birthday celebrations which brought much of the memorabilia planned for the Hamilton museum to Toronto'sYonge-DundasSquarefor the day-long celebration this past spring.

The revamped store will be designed with a glass cube at the corner, but more traditional features inthe remainder of the building.

"We really wanted to create a showpiece for the neighbourhood," said Clanachan.

The new building will feature the original brick colour, retro red seating and steel railings.

It won't be a replica of the original store, which was built intoan old garage. Patrons will be able to "walk through time" in the second-floor museum, which will featurememorabilia fromthe chain last half-century. Most of that memorabiliawill be relocated from the company'sOakville headquarters.

"We think [the memorabilia] belongs here," Clanachan said.

Over the past 50 years, TimHortonshas grown from its Hamilton beginnings to become the dominant coffee and baked goods chain in Canada, with more than 4,000 locations, as well as approximately 800 in the U.S. and more than two dozen in the Middle East.