A piece of Drumheller history has made it back into the hands of the Nacmine Community Association.

Tom and Amie Courtenay of the Faux Den are always on the lookout for interesting items for the store, and on a recent trip to Stettler last summer they made a discovery of an item of interest to the former mining community in Drumheller.

  Amie explains they stopped in Stettler on their way to Edmonton at a garage/antique sale.

  “We bought some other mining stuff and the guy working there said “this is Drumheller” and he showed us the seal” explains Amie.

What he had a was a seal belonging to the Nacmine Community Association. This was used as a seal and to emboss documents.

Amie said the person who sold them the seal originally believed it belongs to the North American Colliers Mine, but upon close inspection, they saw that it denoted the Nacmine Community Association.

The treasure hunters brought it home but decided the best place for it would be back in the hands of the Nacmine Community Association. They approached the association and they were willing to accept it.

The stamp was presented back to the community at the monthly breakfast at the Community Hall on Sunday, November 18, through three long-time Nacmine residents and volunteers of the association.

The $9 million expansion to the Royal Tyrrell Museum is on budget and on schedule for a spring grand opening.

Last week, provincial infrastructure minister Sandra Jansen toured the facility which appear to be taking shape to be a valuable new addition to the museum, which is Drumheller’s biggest tourist draw.

The expansion is roughly 1,100 square metres and it will make more space for the distance learning center and additional classroom and laboratory space. It will feature a large multi-purpose room that can be used for programming and conferences. It will also expand on improvements that make visits a more positive experience including accessible washroom facilities, including a gender-neutral bathroom,  a hands-on discovery room, and a family rest area.

Museum executive director Andrew Neuman says each element of the project is exciting for the institution.

“The whole idea of having a rest and rejuvenation area is what caught my interest in the beginning, but this interactive space which will replace the old one will be popular, not just for kids but for adults, too,” he says, adding the multipurpose space will afford them flexibility on different programs and events.

“It is an absolute delight to come out and see projects like this… One of the great things when you come out here you have a chance to come down into this valley, and you see the topography and all of the wonderful landscape, you realize what a wonderful little part of Alberta this is,” Jansen said at the museum.

The project has been a long time coming, and in the spring of 2016, the Alberta government committed to a budget for the project. The federal government is also contributing $3.95 million to the $9.3 million renovations. Last summer, Lear Construction was selected as the contractor.