Institute without Boundaries field trip: Sudbury, October 1, 2010
Student response by: Lauren Miles
Dynamic Earth
At eight a.m. on a drizzly Friday on the first of October, ten students piled into three cars and headed north, led as always by Michelle, our fearless and benevolent leader. Most of us, your writer included, had never been to Northern Ontario before, and we weren’t sure quite what to expect. After driving for five hours, we arrived at our first stop, the Dynamic Earth mine. The site was never a working mine – it was built as an exhibit to complement the Big Nickel mine and expanded more recently. Our tour began in an elevator, where we watched a video with accompanying voiceover. Once below ground, we donned hardhats and entered an airlock, which led us into the passageways of the mine. Although we were well below ground level, water dripped steadily onto our helmets, courtesy of the recent rain. The first section was a reproduction of the mine as it was circa 1900, when miners earned a dollar a day and had to provide their own supplies. The tunnels were lined with cedar planks; surprisingly, leaving enough room for us all to stand (even Sebastian).
Entering the next exhibit, our tour guide, Ashley, told us the miners of the 1950s (as in 1900), were exclusively male. However, the mid-century mine required its employees to be at least 18. Here, our group was allowed to load dynamite into a crevice, whereupon Ashley whisked us off to a safe distance, where we counted the blasts, although I was disappointed to note their origin – a speaker. We were told the best job during this time was cleaning the toilet, the so-called ‘honey wagon.’ An Inco miner’s 1959 pay stub (conveniently laminated to protect it from the dripping ceiling) revealed typical weekly pay to be $65.83.
The final section was the mine as it is today. Today’s miners have had numbered women among their ranks since 1972 and earn $100,000 – $200,000 a year. Because of noise levels, miners use scent distributed via ventilation as a warning system. In the case of an emergency, staff head to the refuge room. Ashley told us the miners that were trapped in Chile were in a similar room, adding that today’s miners use blasting caps instead of dynamite for safety reasons. On our way out, I asked Ashley if she had a family connection to mining. She told me her grandfather, father and brother are all miners in the area.
Once safely above ground, we met with Nicole Chiasson, director of education and Northern programs for Science North. Chiasson told us Dynamic Earth, which has been an arms-length agency of the Ministry of Tourism since 1986, plans to continuously change exhibits and activities to encourage visitors to return. Currently, Dynamic Earth attracts 40,000 – 50,000 visitors per year, Chiasson said, adding that the institution doesn’t draw as many locals as it would like because of the perception that it hasn’t changed since it was the Big Nickel mine. Visitors can enter Dynamic Earth, Science North and the IMAX theatre if they purchase a ‘passport.’ Chiasson said the passport sells well, but mostly to tourists, particularly during warmer months. Dynamic Earth’s site was originally selected to display the Big Nickel. A beloved Sudbury landmark, the Big Nickel is 30-foot-high model of a 1951 Canadian nickel, made not of nickel, but stainless steel. The decision to build a ‘mine’ was made later, and Dynamic Earth in its modern incarnation was opened in 1982. Construction of the facility itself was used as marketing: the Big Nickel was moved across Sudbury, accompanied by a police escort. Chiasson said funding earned through sponsored exhibits takes pressure off the operating budget. The mine exhibit is also available to local mining engineering students, who use its tunnels to practice safety measures.
After a quick look at some of the other exhibits, we went to the theatre to watch Ground Rules, a film about the mining industry’s efforts to become more environmentally and socially responsible. Because Caterpillar sponsored the film, visitors can view it for free. Although Ground Rules was informative and beautifully shot, all of us were stunned by its attempts to pass off environmental horrors – such as rerouting a river to access a zinc deposit – as progress. As the facility wasn’t particularly busy, staff ran a showing of a multimedia presentation, Nickel City Stories, especially for the IwB. Nickel City Stories, narrated by a fictional local barber, told the story of Sudbury’s founding and history, featuring a rather unnerving bald mannequin as a supporting character.
Imagine Sudbury
Our next visit was with David Wood, who invited us to his charmingly incongruous house to have a cup of tea and talk about his work with Imagine Sudbury. Imagine Sudbury is a group of local volunteers who want to revitalize their city by using private funds to move the rail lands north from downtown. Wood told us Sudbury has the largest area of any city in Ontario, and needs more people and more tax revenue in order to prosper, adding that the number of Sudburians employed as miners has decreased in recent decades from 17,000 to 3,000. Nonetheless, the city’s unique landscape and character provide opportunities to impress visitors: Wood told us that during Cinefest, a local film festival, actors in attendance gather to watch slag being dumped, accompanied by live music. He said Imagine Sudbury has met with the mayoral candidates, and he’s disappointed with the frontrunners’ apparent feeling that their idea is “harebrained” because it has vision. Most people are happy living in the mean, Wood said; it’s the people on the outside – the “outliers” – that effect change and have to convince everyone else that change is necessary.
Conclusion
Although Sudbury’s mining industry is focused not on coal, but on nickel and other metals, there are many parallels between Sudbury and Lota. Both cities are struggling with declining employment in mining. Sudbury is faring better than Lota, however: the city’s public sector is thriving, and a new school of architecture is expected to open soon. Both cities struggle with being seen by outsiders as shabby and economically depressed. Because of my interest in museums and tourism, I was especially interested in the science centre. I thought the exhibits and movies, though sometimes a bit corny, were generally well done and would be interesting to both adults and children. Dynamic Earth’s difficulties attracting local visitors is a problem tourist attractions in Lota could also experience. The determination to stick with the status quo that Imagine Sudbury encountered could also be an issue in Lota, although this will be confirmed or refuted by our visit. Keeping an eye on Imagine Sudbury’s progress, especially after the municipal election, will certainly prove a helpful case study.
