Science North

Science North opened in 1984 in two snowflake-shaped buildings joined by a rock tunnel blasted through a billion-year-old fault, so visitors walk through the geology on the way in. Sudbury sits in a crater created by a meteorite impact around 1.85 billion years ago, which concentrated the nickel and copper that built the city, and the centre works that story hard. Its sister site, Dynamic Earth, includes an underground mine tour and stands beside the Big Nickel, a nine-metre stainless steel replica of a 1951 Canadian five-cent piece erected in 1964 and now the city's emblem.

History

The plans were unveiled in 1980, designed by the architect Raymond Moriyama with Townend, Stefura, Baleshta and Nicholls; the centre opened on 19 June 1984, Elizabeth II presided at its official opening that October during her royal tour, and in 1986 the building received the Governor General's Medal for Architecture (Wikipedia, Science North).

Highlights

• The rock tunnel - a passage blasted through a billion-year-old fault line.
• The Big Nickel - a nine-metre replica coin outside Dynamic Earth.
• The underground mine tour - a descent into a demonstration mine.
• The impact crater story - the meteorite that created Sudbury's ore body.

When to go

Year-round; both sites open daily in summer with reduced days in winter. Dynamic Earth's mine tour runs on a schedule. The two sites are several kilometres apart.

Practical notes

Science North and Dynamic Earth are separate locations needing a car or bus between them. The mine tour is cold and involves a cage descent. Content is aimed largely at families.

Nearby

Killarney Provincial Park lies southwest; the French River is south.

Key facts