6 | County of Grande Prairie
which has come from not only educational
leaders, but also families, government offi-
cials and the regional business community.
That excitement isn’t simply a reflection
of the educational or entertainment values
the museum will house, but what it will offer
in terms of enhancing the local economy. As
for the potential with that, Brake points to
tourism studies that indicate Alberta’s Royal
Tyrrell Museum helps drive hotel lodging
rates equivalent to 240,000 room nights per
year. That museum, along with the famed
fossil beds displayed at Dinosaur Provincial
Park, annually attract some 400,000 visi-
tors from across Canada and throughout the
world. Brake says other studies have shown
that whenever a world class museum and re-
search center is developed at a site, it goes
on to help spur the creation of more than 11
other support-related businesses. In fact, sev-
eral new businesses have already expressed
interest in locating to the Wembley area, and
