The Rossland Museum and Discovery Centre expects to break ground in late summer or early fall on the second and third phases of a renewal project, which will see a simulated mine experience added.
The museum has been without its marquee attraction since 2009, when tours of the LeRoi mine ceased, but museum staff say the new exhibit will provide a similar and more hands-on experience.
“It’s an immersive above-ground walkthrough tunnel, bringing Rossland’s underground mining heritage to life in a vivid, sensory way,” said operations and marketing manager Fiona Lane.
The museum has hired Hil-Tech Contracting Ltd. as construction manager and is wrapping up exhibit planning, finalizing construction drawings, and working through engineering requirements.
The project also includes a new gateway entrance and atrium, an expanded visitor centre and gift shop, as well as a new theatre and presentation space.
It’s all part of a six-phase plan developed by the museum, Teck, and the City of Rossland to “transform the museum into a modern, dynamic, all-season discovery centre,” Lane said. The first phase, completed in 2017, created a new entrance gallery and updated administration spaces, archives, and accessible washrooms.
Planning and fundraising for the next phases has been ongoing ever since. The museum has secured $5.2 million out of the estimated $6 million cost of the project, paid for entirely through donations and grants. Major support has come from the provincial government and Teck Metals. Further donations are being sought to close the gap.
“So it’s been a lot of work and a lot of fun to be envisaging the new space and the new ways to tell Rossland’s old stories,” Lane said, adding that they still receive inquiries “weekly” about whether the mine tours are still offered. Teck, which owns the property, shut down the tour and later concluded it could not be reopened due to safety concerns.
“It was such a beloved tour and it’s a shame that it closed, but we’re really excited about this opportunity to bring some of those stories in and also to refresh some of the other exhibits,” Lane said.
Those exhibits will discuss Rossland’s lifestyle and culture, including skiing, mountain biking, Old Glory, and the Winter Carnival.
Collections manager Sara Wright said the mine experience will include fabricated rock work based on the geological structure of the old tunnel and will allow visitors to do more than what the tours offered.
“So you’ll be able to see how heavy one of the drills is. You’ll be able to make an explosion of sorts happen to get the experience of blasting. You’ll be able to hunt for fluorescent minerals. We’re still trying to figure out all the bits and pieces, but hopefully it will be a lot more interactive than the old tour used to be.”
She said that part of their mining collection is inaccessible during the winter becuase it gets snowed in, whereas the new experience will be available year-round.
Wright added the refreshed exhibits will let them tell different stories and highlight different people.
“We’ve mostly focused on the competitive athletes, but we want to be able to celebrate the Red Mountain Racers that compete right now and not just in the past. It gives us the flexibility to celebrate everybody that makes up Rossland and not just a certain select few.”
The exact project timeline is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks. Lane said they will remain open to the public as long as they’re able to, but if they are forced to close part or all of the facility while the work is underway, they’ll look at partnering with the library, having exhibits around town, and relying on exhibits on the upper bench of the museum property.
Lane won’t be around to see the next phase begin, though. After five years with the Rossland Museum, she has taken a position with the Coquitlam Heritage Society as executive director of the Mackin House Museum. But she says she’ll be back in Rossland for the renewal project’s grand opening.
