There will soon be more than the iconic Big Nickel to look at on the grounds of Dynamic Earth.
Construction will begin next month on an outdoor science park and exploration trail system at Dynamic Earth, featuring engaging earth science and mining-themed exhibits.
With attractions such as a slide down from a slag pot and large pieces of mining equipment, the science park is expected to be completed in mid-July.
“The science park is really exciting because what it does is it allows us to attract visitors on sunny days,” said Guy Labine, CEO of Science North, which is Dynamic Earth's parent organization.
“The other thing I think it's doing is it's presenting some very unique opportunities for engaging with visitors with cool things.”
It's thanks in part to a $1 million grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation that Dynamic Earth was able to create the science park.
“This is not only a great day for us as an organization, a great day for visitors who will come to Science North and to Dynamic Earth, but a great day for the community and Northern Ontario,” Labine said at an April 17 funding announcement.
“We're thrilled with the NOHFC support. We treat the funding we receive from the NOHFC as if it were our own money. It leverages investment from the private sector, from other levels of government. And again, without that agency, we would not exist.”
The grant also goes towards a recently completed renewal to one of the site's oldest attractions — the underground mine experience. In the past, those visiting the mine would have seen a lot of traditional static displays.
“What we've done is we've supercharged those experiences and included multimedia, video, lighting,” Labine said.
“We have a simulated blast experience. Well before it was OK. But now you actually feel concussion like you would underground. So it's really creating a higher level of authenticity of the underground experience.”
Dynamic Earth's Nickel City Stories, an engaging multimedia object theatre, has also been upgraded with new equipment and footage.
The facility is also collaborating with six other attractions in the North to install Northern Nature Trading exhibits.
These experiences are based on the model currently existing at Science North and Dynamic Earth, where visitors can bring in their own items from nature and trade for other natural items.
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault made the funding announcement on behalf of the NOHFC. He said the new Dynamic Earth exhibits will attract new tourists to Sudbury, and bring locals back to the attraction as well.
“The numbers that we have of people working in the tourism sector, it's close to 3,000,” he said. “That's lots of jobs, lots of money that's going to be invested in our community.”
Original story
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault has announced the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation is investing $1 million to create new displays, including an outdoor science park.
Thibeault made the announcement at noon at Dynamic Earth, while demonstrators from the Ontario Health Coalition protested health-care cuts outside his office.
The park will feature interactive earth science and mining-themed exhibits. The funding will also allow Dynamic Earth to create new modern mining exhibits and upgrade the Nickel City Stories multimedia theatre.
Science North will also be working with other northern communities to offer a "Northern Nature Trading experience" attraction, which gives visitors the chance to trade and build collections of natural objects from around the North.
