The Britannia Mine Museum announced that its BOOM! mill show has won a prestigious TEA Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement (Museum Experience, Limited Budget category) announced at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo 2021 in Orlando, Fla., earlier this week.
BOOM! is the Britannia Mine Museum’s live-action, multi-sensory special effects story telling experience that brings the historic 98-year-old mill #3 building, a national historic site, back to life. The theatrical spectacle transports visitors back in time to the 1920s when the mine was booming as the largest copper producer in the British Commonwealth. The show shares the magical story of the awe-inspiring 20-storey architectural marvel as one of North America’s last gravity fed concentrators.
The museum shared some facts about the making of BOOM! A preserved 3-tonne rail skip was recreated that mimics the weight and movement of the original for the filming. The Museum’s own archive collection of images, blueprints and documents was used to research the show for accuracy about equipment and processes. More than 30 speakers were used to create an atmospheric soundscape. Sound levels were mixed to the same decibel levels as an IMAS theatre to take advantage of the mill’s natural acoustics (that have been compared to Carnegie Hall). The completed video was the work of more than 130 artists, designers, trades, technicians, and engineers in collaboration with show designer and producer Vista Collaborative Arts as well as Dynamic Attractions from Port Coquitlam, B.C.
The Thea Awards were founded in 1994 by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), a global non-profit serving the visitor attractions industry.
The Britannia Mine Museum (www.BritanniaMineMuseum.ca) has won a dozen awards over the past 12 years, making it an internationally recognized education and tourist destination located between Vancouver and Whistler on the Sea-to-Sky highway.
Watch the 30-second BOOM trailer:
