SUDBURY, THUNDER BAY – Science North announced today a final $177,083 loan repayment to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). The payment is the last installment toward a $500,000 dollar loan provided to Science North by the NOHFC in 2008 to finance the development of Science North’s third travelling exhibition entitled Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins. The final payment is being made early – Science North had until January 2015 to repay the loan.
Science North Ends of the Earth
Science North invested $1.8 million dollars in Ends of the Earth, a travelling exhibition that explores the unique nature of the Earth’s polar regions, the current science being undertaken there, and these regions as indicators of climate change on our planet. In addition Ends of the Earth anchored Science North’s tourism season in 2007 and was seen by 105,241 people and also generated $5 million dollars in tourism benefits for Northern Ontario.
To date more than 1 million people, in 12 cities throughout North America, have seen the Ends of the Earth exhibition which has been on tour since 2007. It is also set to open this month at the Discovery Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The development of the exhibition has generated more than $5 million dollars worth of direct and value-added benefits in Northern Ontario. Science North’s exports business, which includes overseeing the ongoing tour of Ends of the Earth, is supporting 38 full-time jobs.
[sws_pullquote_right]The skills and expertise of Northern Ontario companies are used in exhibition and multimedia production activity [/sws_pullquote_right]
As well, the skills and expertise of Northern Ontario companies are used in exhibition and multimedia production activity. In the case of Ends of the Earth some of the private companies contracted to help produce the exhibit included Sound Sculptures Sonores, Media Concepts Inc. and Cambrian College Theatre Arts.
“I am very pleased to acknowledge Science North as a responsible corporate citizen as well as an effective partner of the Ontario government in levering new economic activity in the North,” state Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and Chair of the NOHFC.
“We are pleased to be able to fully repay the NOHFC loan,” states Guy Labine, Science North CEO. “With every successful travelling exhibit Science North produces and tours, we further solidify our position as a global leader in science exhibition development. We owe much of our success to the NOHFC and its board members for their ongoing support, and financial investments, which are critical in assisting us with launching new exhibitions which support the broader northern tourism industry.”
