Oil Sands Discovery Centre Wins Prestigious Award

Fort McMurray's Oil Sands Discovery Centre will receive the Multimedia Award from the Calgary-based Petroleum History Society on March 23, 2005.  The centre uses a variety of storytelling methods to provide information on Alberta's oil sands. Some of the methods that prompted recognition with this award include live demonstrations of oil sands separation, an interactive exhibit hall holographic and video images and a virtual drive of a heavy hauler truck.

The centre's exhibits include some of the big things you would find at the world's biggest single oil deposit, the Athabasca Oil Sands. Visitors can experience the sheer size of a dragline bucket excavation system, a 150 tonne heavy hauler with tires three metres high and Cyrus, an 850 tonne bucketwheel excavator.

Since 1985, the centre has been committed to increasing public awareness, appreciation and knowledge about the oil sands industry and its role in the development of Canada. Its curriculum-based educational programs for schoolchildren reach four out of every five students in the region.  The centre is Alberta's most northerly science centre, is one of Alberta Community Development's Historic Sites and Cultural Facilities and hosts 30,000 visitors annually.

As part of the Alberta Centennial Legacies Grant Program the centre received resources to re-develop the exhibits currently housed in the facility.

For information, visit the web sites at www.oilsandsdiscovery.com and www.petroleumhistory.ca or phone (780) 743-7167 or toll-free in Alberta 310-0000.