News Release

For immediate release
January 24, 2003

Coal Fields Preserved in Fossil Interpretive Centre

SYDNEY MINES, N.S. – The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of State for Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) announced today, Government of Canada funding, under the Strategic Community Investment Fund (SCIF) in the Sydney-Victoria riding of MP Mark Eyking. 

The SCIF funding will be used to expand the existing Sydney Mines Heritage Association’s local museum to include a new interactive and animated Fossil Interpretive Centre.

Nova Scotia is recognized internationally for the uniqueness, significance and abundance of its fossils, and Sydney Mines is strategically located to showcase the rich deposits found in the Sydney Coalfields. These Coalfields extend 21 miles along the Cape Breton coast dipping under the Atlantic Ocean. The area is rich in fossils from the carboniferous period (300 million years ago). A walk along the shoreline near Sydney Mines uncovers many treasures from an era when Cape Breton Island was close to the equator, including impressions of fern leaves, bamboo-like plants and trunks of extinct trees standing upright above the coal. 

The Centre will feature a large collection of fossils from Cape Breton and elsewhere, gathered by Dr. Erwin Zodrow. Dr. Zodrow has turned over the academic right to this collection, the largest of its kind in North America, to the Heritage Association. 

“This unique development is expected to bring international attention to the significance of the fossil sites on Cape Breton Island,” says Mark Eyking, MP, speaking on behalf of Minister Byrne. “The new Fossil Interpretive Centre will offer visitors a unique hands-on learning experience, facilitate research and study and make a significant contribution to community development in Sydney Mines.”

“Coal and coal mining are central to the heritage and culture of Sydney Mines,” says James Tobin, volunteer manager and chair of the Sydney Mines Heritage Association. “The Fossil Interpretive Centre helps us demonstrate the significance of coal and maintain the area’s proud tradition of coal mining. This funding will get the project off the ground, so to speak, in fine style.” 

The total estimated cost of the project is over $1,500,000. The Government of Canada, through Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC), will provide a non-repayable contribution of $180,000 via the Strategic Community Investment Fund, and a further $500,000 through the Community Adjustment Fund. A parcel of land near the existing museum has been donated by a local business and will be the site of the new Centre. 

The Sydney Mines Heritage Association, established in 1998, has as its mandate, the promotion of the history and culture of the Northside area. To date, the group’s main focus has been the establishment of the Sydney Mines Heritage Museum, in the former Sydney Mines Railway Station, which, in 2001, hosted five thousand visitors. 

It is anticipated that the four seasonal jobs at the museum will increase to ten. This will include those working directly at the facility as well as several providing escorted tours to the fossil fields. It is also believed that, with the addition of the Fossil Interpretive Centre, visitation will triple as will the revenue-generating capacity of the museum.

The Strategic Community Investment Fund provides $135 million over five years to help communities in Atlantic Canada create an environment that encourages and enhances, among other activities, the development of strategic sectors such as tourism.

The Community Adjustment Fund is designed to assist communities most affected by the closure of DEVCO in their efforts to diversify their economic base. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ralph Meechan 
Office of the Honourable Gerry Byrne
Minister of State
Tel: (613) 941-7241

Office of Mark Eyking, MP
Sydney-Victoria 
Tel: (902) 567-6275
Fax: (902) 564-2479

Mary Ann MacCormick 
ECBC Communications
Tel: (902) 564-7269 
Fax: (902) 564-3825
mmaccor2@ecbc.ca

James Tobin
Sydney Mines Heritage Society, Chair
Tel : (902) 544-0992
Fax : (902)544-0870