The rebrand comes before the completion of a major $14.7 million three-phase redevelopment project, transforming a mining legacy site into a vibrant internationally recognized destination. Soon to be completed in September 2010, the new museum will celebrate the contribution of minerals to society, the history of the storied community and the ideas and practices of renewal and sustainability. It promotes mining awareness through fun educational programs, historic collection preservation and insightful exhibits that enables guests to leave with a better understanding of mining in BC; past, present, and future.

By the end of next month, members of the three organizations are hoping to have at least a handful of Okanagan artists interested in painting a mural on the wall of Memorial Arena to celebrate the Dragoon’s centennial in 2011.

The project has a yearlong timeline, but a 100 year history behind it.

The joint project by the Duncan Business Improvement Association and the Cowichan Valley Museum will hang some two–dozen pictures of downtown’s Chinatown.

It leveled in the late ‘60s to make way for the round building, the courthouse and what is now a seniors’ centre.

The enlarged shots will be printed on aluminum then laminated against the weather, said museum curator Kathryn Gagnon.

Those images will replace some 20 paintings by Cowichan high school students.

Their artwork — now being returned — has graced the alleyway for about 15 years.

Plans for a new museum are going to be announced.

“What’s happening is that we’re outgrowing this museum and about a year ago we decided we were going to go for an expansion,” said Norma Greer, the archivist and secretary with the society. “It’s now or nothing.”

Typically the museum has a simple celebration for the national holiday, but this year volunteers decided to nurture the day with a bigger celebration.

Teck Resources Limited, Canada’s largest mining company, has donated $1 million to the Museum for its three-phase redevelopment, the Britannia Project, which aims to transform the historic mining site into a vibrant internationally recognized destination.

“On behalf of everyone at Teck, we are pleased to be able to support the BC Museum of Mining and the terrific work that it does,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO of Teck Resources. “The museum plays a vital role in preserving the history of mining in B.C. and educating the public about the incredibly important contribution that responsible mining makes to people’s lives.”

As workers and curators clamber around to transform the 10,000-square-foot space that makes up the Royal B.C. Museum’s latest exhibition, Kelly Sendall, the museum’s manager of natural history, crouches beside a frighteningly realistic mounted grizzly bear.

“What a fine-looking specimen,” jokes head designer Ken Johnson as he hurries past to a nearby display.

As its title attests, Behind the Scenes, the first segment of a two-part exhibition that runs until fall 2011, turns the museum’s walls inside out to reveal its backstage happenings. Beginning June 25, the public will get a rare glimpse of specimens and artifacts from the museum’s back rooms.

Until now, this important historical resource was kept from the public, stored in the museum’s basement laboratories. That’s because many of the specimens don’t obviously lend themselves to display, explains Sendall, the mastermind behind the exhibition.

The gift will support a new Beaty-Lundin Visitor Centre, one of the first transformation sites visitors will experience when they visit the newly restored museum in the late summer. The centre will house several theatrical mining and mineral exhibits, a new theatre space, a gift shop and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

The funds will also go towards the museum’s three-phase redevelopment project, known as the “Britannia Project,” focused on preserving its heritage buildings and mining collections, creating an enhanced visitor experience and transforming the historic mining site into a vibrant internationally recognized destination.

They’ve taken historical film footage from the ’20s and ’30s, which offers a unique glimpse back in time to life at Britannia Beach and Mount Sheer (the town site), had it digitized and have posted it online on YouTube for all to enjoy.

For some insight into the life of miners over 80 years ago, visit www.bcmuseumofmining.org/multimedia_links.html.

Andrew Minigan has already spent time planning for the museum even before this season’s opening and is looking at new exhibits, new ways of getting students and volunteers more involved and improvements to the site.

“One passion is history and I feel very fortunate to be able to translate my passion into a career,” he said. Minigan became interested in his line of work at a young age.

“I blame my grandfather for reading me too many National Geographic articles in lieu of bedtime stories when I was a kid,” said Minigan about how he got into his line of work.

It’s been a yearlong project to restore the skeleton of the massive beast that washed up on Prince Edward Island in 1987.

The skeleton, when complete, will be going to the University of B.C.’s new Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver.

One of the final tasks in the project is to finish the giant head, which had shattered into 25 larger pieces and about 40 fragments.

“We replicated it in fibreglass and foam and have now coated it with a durable, lightweight layer of plasti-paste,” said artist David Hunwick, while stirring the mucky mix with a trowel.

Hunwick teaches sculpture at the Victoria College of Art and is being assisted on the skeleton project by students.

CEO Pauline Rafferty said the museum, which has chronicled B.C.’s history for 124 years, must now work its way out of a $491,000 financial hole amid sluggish ticket sales.

“Like many organizations, we’ve certainly seen the impact of the economic downturn,” she said.

“We’re certainly seeing a decline in admission revenue, and that is troubling.”

As a Crown corporation, the museum is not allowed to run a deficit but received special permission to do that this year.

They are just two of the prospective hopefuls for the heritage stone building housing the Vancouver Art Gallery when — and if — it vacates its current site.

VAG officials said Wednesday they are negotiating with the City of Vancouver for the entire square block of the former bus depot site at Georgia and Hamilton streets, where they want to build a new, greener, home.

But city manager Penny Ballem said no decisions have been made on VAG’s proposal and “it’s all up in the air” about what’s going to happen. The city had been pitching to have the new VAG on the False Creek lands.

“People have got a bit overexcited on this; we haven’t come to any conclusions whether or not that’s what we agree with,” Ballem said.

“If the art gallery ever did move out of there we would have to have those discussions on what could move in.”

She said whatever came in would have to fit into the cultural mix of the area.

In an attempt to reduce the 2010 budget, the Township of Langley is considering closing the Langley Centennial Museum (LCM) for Sundays and Mondays during the fall, winter and spring. The Langley Heritage Society has sent a letter to the mayor and councillors suggesting that they may not have all the facts required to make this devastating decision, and suggesting that the councillors do not realize the contribution the museum makes to this community.

Last year, the LCM presented school programs to just under 17,000 school children and was the recipient of an extra grant of $35,000 from the BC Arts Council because of the wide range of services it offers in the community and the increase in the numbers of people served.

With the Fort Langley National Historic Site (FLNHS) open seven days a week, and located only two blocks from the museum, the heritage society feels that visitors should have the opportunity to visit the FLNHS and the LCM every day, year round.

At a time when a special agency — Tourism Langley — has been created to promote tourism, it appears counter-productive to reduce the funding and hours of the museum.

The museum received notice last year that its funding through the B.C. Arts Council would be slashed.

The museum received $27,000 in 2009 from the council, but was told that number would be cut by 60 per cent for 2010 and a further 30 per cent for 2011. That would mean $20,000 in annual funding would disappear.

Museum director Ron Denman said the $27,000 “represents probably eight per cent of our budget, but it’s a real significant eight per cent.”