BY KAY MILLER | Published June 18, 2019
National Historic Site near Squamish presents new special effects show detailing the fascinating history of the mill and mine.
Sparks are flying again at Britannia Mine, more than 40 years after the mine closed its doors in 1974 and the Britannia Mine Museum opened.
But it’s not copper or gold causing a stir at the museum’s iconic mountainside 20-story mill structure just outside Squamish: it’s BOOM!, a new special-effects show that sheds light – plus sound, vibration and whole lot of wonder – on the mine and the mill building’s fascinating history.
The enormous mill structure was built in 1923, and has been a National Historic Site since 1987. The building can be seen across Howe Sound and along the scenic Sea-to-Sky highway. But no other exhibit has told the building’s story quite like this one, says Britannia Mine Museum executive director Kirstin Clausen.
“It’s a 13-minute show that presents the mill building, its history and its importance, and brings it all to life with live action and layered special effects,” she says.
BOOM! opened at the start of the month and will be a permanent fixture. It has already received rave reviews from visitors, tourists, social influencers and media, many of whom were pleasantly surprised with the creativity and authenticity of the experience. Until the show’s debut, the museum depended on its tour guides, plus traditional exhibit displays of equipment and photos, to explain the mill building’s historical process of transporting and crushing rock, then separating valuable ore with a flotation technique (extremely innovative for its time).
But BOOM! re-creates the process live, with multiple screens, a host of special effects – like spraying sparks – and 30 speakers that bring the mill rumbling back to life, creating a soundscape comparable to that of an IMAX show. The museum even built a three-ton rail car for the show, identical to the one used to transport gear up and down the 20-story structure.
Photo Courtesy of Vancouver Sun, 18 June 2019.
“It was important to me and the creative team to ensure we told the story accurately, without embellishment,” says Clausen. “I’m proudest that we’re presenting it in a way that has honoured and respected the history.”
The mine, which operated from 1905 to 1974, dug copper, and some gold, out of the mountain above, and its mill building was one of North America’s last gravity-fed concentrator mills. In its heyday, it was the largest copper mine in the British Commonwealth, processing 2,500 tons of ore per day.
The museum consulted its own archive of images, blueprints and documents to make BOOM! as true-to-life as possible. The show took six years to fundraise for and realize, through a collaboration with Vista Collaborative Arts, a Vancouver-based show designer and producer, and Dynamic Attractions from Port Coquitlam, an outfit well-known for creating rides at theme parks like Universal Studios and Disney.
Clausen hopes the show will bring back visitors who have dropped in before, as well as a new influx of guests from near and far. Many Lower Mainlanders are familiar with the mill at Britannia because of its iconic stepped shape, she adds, having passed it many times on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. But many have also never stopped in to explore.
“When they do stop, they say, ‘why didn’t anybody tell me it was this good?’ They say they had no idea they could fill three hours here, and that the experiences we offer are so professional and well-done,” she says.
In addition to BOOM!, visitors can wander among 10 acres of preserved historical buildings, climb aboard a mine train to travel underground for a 35-minute tour in the cool depths of a haulage tunnel, see real precious mineral samples at the Mineral Gallery, get their hands wet in the Gold Panning Pavilion and more. All of the museum’s attractions and activities are family-friendly, fun and educational. And now there some extra sparkle in the mix.
This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of Britannia Mine Museum.
Source: http://bit.ly/2L0M4oz
Via: Vancouver Sun