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If you’ve spent any time at Science North in recent years, you’ve probably noticed kids significantly older than toddlers are often using the Toddler Treehouse, simply, as CEO Ashley Larose says, because they love the slide.
In considering a renewal to the third and fourth floors of Science North, staff decided to replicate the fun of the Toddler Treehouse with a play structure more appropriate for older kids and adults.
“One of the pieces of feedback that we hear quite regularly from our visitors is that we could have more experiences where visitors use their full bodies,” said Larose, speaking at a Dec. 16 press conference.
“Imagine how much fun they’re going to have when we give them a big climber that will allow them to work up to the fourth floor. So they will move through this multi-level, full body play and learning experience that will physically connect these two floors.”
Woven by Water, as the new exhibit will be called, will depict a digital stream leading up to a heron’s nest.
Press materials explained the project will connect the third and fourth floors of the science centre with a multi-level play structure and a series of exhibits that explore the intricate and vital relationships between water cycles, with a focus on Indigenous learning.
Once complete, Science North will unveil an indoor multi-level, full-body play-based structure, catering to all developmental stages and learning styles.
The new space will be inclusive and accessible, celebrate Canada’s cultural heritage, and support learning activities that align with Ontario’s grades 1–12 curriculum.
Visitors will explore how water ecosystems have shaped land, species, and people in Northern Ontario and understand how to become stewards of water systems.
“Visitors will explore how herons use their telescopic vision to find prey and bring water ecosystems to life digitally, by drawing species and plants that flow into a projected stream,” said Sarah Chisnell, Science North’s director of STEM engagement.
“They will also gain new insights into the life cycle of manoomin (wild rice), and experience the importance of wetlands across Northern Ontario.”
Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe announced a $650,000 FedNor investment in Woven by Water at the press conference. The project’s overall budget is $1.9 million, and Science North will be reaching out to other levels of government to make up the difference.
The science centre hopes to have Woven by Water completed in 2028, once it finishes its current window renewal project.
“I know how important Science North is to tourism, and that’s why I’m just so excited to learn about this project, and I’m going to be watching it unfold,” Lapointe said.
To that point, Larose said that when Science North renewed its fourth floor in 2009, attendance increased by 16 per cent “and generated tangible economic benefits for the region. Woven by Water will build on that momentum.”
In renewing about 20 per cent of the science centre’s third floor, one of the areas being redeveloped is the former beaver habitat area.
While beavers were a part of Science North for its first 40 years, with evolving animal welfare standards, its former resident beaver, Kash, was moved to a zoo in Quebec in 2024.
“He’s all good,” Larose said. “He is living his best beaver life. He’s got all kinds of friends.”
Kirsten St. Louis, STEM specialist, Indigenous education at Science North, explained how it’s her job to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into the science centre’s exhibits.
She called this “two-eyed seeing,” a pedagogy that invites people to see the world through both Indigenous knowledge systems and western science.
“That is why this project, Woven by Water, is so meaningful,” she said.
“It is a powerful example of how Indigenous perspectives can be honoured properly, from concept to completion and beyond. This exhibit does not simply tell stories about water. It reflects a relationship with water.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor.
