Foundations exhibit explores ecological and industrial history of Britannia mines

The Britannia Mine Museum is now host to a permanent outdoor installation which explores the area's ecological and industrial history.

For decades, Britannia Beach was the centre of a thriving mining community, and today, the museum sits at the edge of the Sea-to-Sky highway as a reminder of the past.

The exhibit features a large 3D model mapping out the mountains and Howe Sound from Granville Island to Britannia to illustrate the size and scale of the area.

"What we wanted to do was give visitors a sense of scale and orientation of Britannia, because, when you whip past on the highway, you see this community here, but you can't see back up into the mountains where the old townsite was and the camps were," said Diane Mitchell, the curator of education and collections at the Britannia Mine Museum.

The Mount Sheer townsite spread up into the mountains and, at one time, held 2,000 residents, but was abandoned in 1959 when the mine temporarily closed.

Now, all you'll find at the townsite is the remnants of an old swimming pool and a few old houses.

"You'd never know there was a town there," Mitchell told CBC producer Margaret Gallagher.

The area's ecology was badly damaged by the water that would drain out of the mine in a process called acid rock drainage, "which is a natural process, but when you add tunnels into the mix it makes the process an awful lot worse," Mitchell explained

For decades there was acidic, metal-contaminated water flowing freely into Howe Sound, and when the mine closed in 1974, it met the regulations of the day, "but fast forward 40 years and regulations change, our understanding of the ecosystem changed," she said.

Since the installation of a water treatment plant in 2005, Britannia Creek and the intertidal zone have gone from barren, dead zones to a thriving habitat for sea life. Salmon were even spotted for the first time in 80 years, according to Mitchell.

"It's still low biodiversity compared with the rest of Howe Sound, but compared to what it was, it's amazing to see this life coming back."

The future of the area on land is rebounding as well, with 72 new townhomes and a new community hub under development.

"For me, it's always about what can we learn from the past. It's always about change and moving forward … What's happening here today in Britannia will be history. It'll be part of Britannia's heritage, so it's up to us to look after that."

"Foundations" opened Saturday, along with a photo exhibit called Howe Sound: Beauty Below, as part of Family Fun Day at the museum.

With files from Margaret Gallagher, The Early Edition