‘Wow! This is a special place’ That’s what Danny Gillaume hopes visitors to his dazzling multimedia museum will say about B.C.
John Bermingham
Province
Danny Guillaume on the construction site of the Gold Rush exhibit at Storyeum in Gastown. CREDIT: Jason Payne, The Province
Once upon a time there was a story, and that story became British Columbia.
On June 1, Vancouver‘s “Storyeum” opens in Gastown, offering visitors a chance to live through B.C.’s history in a massive underground theatre.
Storyeum is the brainchild of Danny Guillaume, a 42-year-old entrepreneur who plans to turn this into a major tourist attraction.
“The idea is to bring awareness and appreciation to our history,” said Guillaume. “A lot of people don’t know that we have an interesting history. Let’s look at history and bring it to life.”
The $20-million Storyeum theatre occupies the former Woodward’s parking lot and is the size of six hockey rinks.
Guillaume, who founded the highly profitable West Coast Video and Petcetera chains, saw the potential in the Gastown site and approached the owners, the city of Vancouver, which jumped on the idea.
The building features two huge circular elevators, the bigger of which has a 52-foot-diameter and is one of the largest in the world, holding up to 199 people at once.
Storyeum will present a 70-minute theatre and multimedia show that includes elaborate stages, live actors and a musical score, all from B.C. More than 20 live actors in period costumes will play out key events in real time, and it’s all backed up by large multimedia displays.
“What makes us tick in B.C.? Why are we unique in the planet? Why do we have a different attitude?” said Guillaume.
Visitors will be taken on a journey through the natural history of B.C., early First Nations history and European exploration and settlement. Then it’s on to the Gold Rush, the Canadian Pacific Railroad and waves of immigration to B.C. from all corners of the earth.
Film crews have been travelling around B.C. capturing images of the province and its people for a sweeping six-minute finale.
Guillaume said the Storyeum stories have all been taken from B.C. native legends, personal diaries and the historical record.
“You can blow through history and learn nothing, or you can look at history and say, ‘Wow! This is a special place,'” he said. “We’re bringing these old stories alive. It’s an educational experience.”
Storyeum will employ about 180 people, half of them actors, and hopes to attract a million visitors a year. A ticket to the show will cost about $20 for adults, $15 for kids, plus GST.
History comes to life in Storyeum’s huge halls
– CONFEDERATION: Before joining Canada in 1871, B.C. could have joined the U.S. But Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald agreed to take on B.C.’s debts and promised to build a railway within a decade. Thousands of Chinese workers helped build the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and 600 of them perished. The Last Spike was driven in on Nov. 7, 1885, near Revelstoke, linking East to West. This exhibit dramatizes the construction of that historic railway.
– NEW WORLD: Trading routes to the Pacific Rim and the elusive Northwest Passage brought Captain James Cook to Nootka Sound in 1778 with his ships Resolution and Discovery. But Spanish explorer Juan de Fuca may have got here in 1592. From 1792 to 1794 Capt. George Vancouver mapped B.C.’s coastline aboard the ship Discovery.
– GOLD FEVER: It’s 1860. Billy Barker has struck gold on Williams Creek, sparking the Cariboo Gold Rush. By 1862, Barkerville was the biggest city in North America west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. Its population of 5,000 was bolstered by the arrival of Chinese labourers and women from the Bride Ships. It was destroyed in 1868 in “The Great Barkerville Fire.” This exhibit features a reconstructed street from a Gold Rush town.
– FIRST NATIONS: Prior to the arrival of Europeans, there were up to 250,000 people living in B.C. These hunter-gatherer cultures were highly evolved, with their own languages, traditions and spirituality. In Storyeum, a Coast Salish girl comes of age in a naming ceremony that takes place in a big-house.
© The Vancouver Province 2004