B.C. government investing $20M to upgrade Science World

Science World will be 40 years old in a couple of years, and the B.C. government is investing in some maintenance before its milestone birthday.

On Tuesday, Premier David Eby joined Tourism Minister Lana Popham at the Vancouver attraction to announce a $20 million investment to upgrade infrastructure at the science education centrethat first opened as part of Expo 86.

The money will come from a $50 million cash injection for thetourism industry that the government says willsupportvarious projects around the province, such as campground developments, climate change adaptationsand accessibility improvements.

"We have some work to do here at Science World and certainly around the province," said Ebyduring a morning news conference at thecentre, which welcomed over 860,0000 visitorsa year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said "the iconic dome" is currently leaking, which has made the theatre inside unusable. Eby saidalong with infrastructure repairs, Science World will also be getting upgrades to its electrical and HVAC systems.

"It has been neglected for too long," said the premier.

'Shovel-ready' projects

Pophamsaid the rest of the $50 million will support 90 "shovel-ready" tourism projects already in the works.

These include aTtn Central Governmentsignage project in the north of the province and a project with the Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association to collect data on visitor use.

Tuesday's announcement, said Popham, will "continue building B.C. as a world-class destination."

"Spring is here, summer is coming go out and do something that you have never done before," she advised.

In June 2022, the provincial government, under then Premier John Horgan, announced a multi-million dollar investmentto rebuildthe Royal B.C. Museum. The province suspended that plan after public outcry over government spending priorities.

Following Tuesday's announcement, the B.C. director for theCanadian Taxpayers Federation took to social media to criticize the provincial government for its investment.

Carson Binda tweeted that S&P Global Inc., a major debt-rating agency, dropped B.C.'s credit rating because of "big government spending."

"Eby needs to put down the taxpayer credit card and pick up a pair of scissors to bring some fiscal sanity back to B.C.," Binda posted.