Britannia Beach Real Estate
Britannia Beach Land website: www.britanniabeachland.com/
Britannia Beach
Britannia Beach is a small unincorporated community in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District located approximately 30 kilometers north of Vancouver, British Columbia on the Sea-to-Sky Highway on Howe Sound. It has a population of about 300.
The community first developed between 1900 and 1904 as the residential area for the staff of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company. The residential areas and the mining operation were physicaly interelated, resulting in coincidental mining and community disasters through its history.
Today, the town is host to the British Columbia Museum of Mining, on the grounds of the old Britannia Mines. The mine's old concentrator facilities, used to separate copper ore from its containing rock, is a National Historic Site of Canada.
In summer 2003, the town was purchased by The Macdonald Development Corporation who is working in conjunction with the Provincial Government to develop the town and surrounding area. The current residents were able to purchase the property where their homes were and many did so in November 2005, the first individual land owners in the town's history.
A 30 million dollar water treatment centre has been built to process the water pollution from the former mine. This opened in April 2006. Improvements to Highway 99 and plans to develop the waterfront continue in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The large white concentrator building that dominates the town received a 5 million dollar face lift with new exterior cladding and windows. This was largely a community and private industry funded project.
