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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It started with a small group of Yellowknifers hoping to preserve the city's storied mining history, and over a decade it has turned into a community effort.

Through the generosity of local businesses and Yellowknifers, the NWT Mining Heritage Society has raised $500,000 and amassed a collection of machinery and buildings that played a role in the city's original industry.

"It's pretty tremendous," said society president Walt Humphries. "We started with nothing."

This month the society will celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The group came together in 1999 in response to Giant Mine's closure and in 2002 it became a registered society. The club began with 20 members and now boasts between 60 and 150 volunteers, he said.

"There were a number of us who felt it was important to save the history ... and for people who visit to get a good feel for what makes the Northwest Territories the Northwest Territories," said Humphries, a prospector by trade. "Yellowknife wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the mines."

In 2001 the group acquired five buildings - the Giant Mine recreation hall, the commissary, the A-shaft headframe, hoist room and powerhouse - from Miramar Mining. The society plans to use four of the buildings as outdoor exhibits. The Giant Mine rec hall, located on the Ingraham Trail close to the Giant Mine boat launch, will be turned into a mining museum and interpretive centre that will hold displays about geology, mineral exploration and mining in the NWT.

According to Humphries, fundraising and construction on the property has been hampered by the uncertainty surrounding the cleanup and remediation plan for the Giant Mine site. The federal government is currently freezing underground chambers full of poisonous arsenic trioxide, and a portion of the Ingraham Trail is set to be re-routed to allow the cleanup to take place. Work is expected to start on the realignment this summer.

Still, more than $450,000 has been put into the rec hall to fix the roof, foundation and some of the building's interior. The funds were raised by selling memorabilia, soliciting businesses as well as residents for donations and running events, such as the annual Beer Barge.

The group still needs to raise about $1 million before it can afford to fix up the site and make the centre a reality.

"I'd be quite happy if I won the lottery," said Humphries. "It would get us most of the way there."

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