Although originally slated to open this week, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s new Visitor’s Center will open no sooner than March.
Right after the air system is aligned with federal building standards.
Supervisory Park Ranger Matt Connors detailed what they hope visitors will experience when the center opens.
Connors: “That they were to walk through all the major habitats on the refuge from the oceans to the ice fields in less than a few minutes and when I saw walk through I don’t mean just looking at photographs or reading about descriptions, when you walk into the entryway you’re going to actually walk through a crevice in a glacier. And then as you walk around you’ll see some alpine rock with Dall Sheep looking at you, life size mounts, and as you go around the corner you’ll see all types of habitat in the forest and all the animals that dwell within there. And then a big surprise at the end but I’m now going to give that away yet.”
He also said a unique collaboration the new center aimed to achieve was to encourage visitors to visit both the Kenai and Soldotna Visitor’s Centers.
Connors: “So it kind of gives three pieces for people to come and tour and see. So instead of trying to mimic what they did we took a little different approach so we’ll tell folks, if you see this one now you have to go down and see the one down the street or the one over in Kenai because they each kind of work together to tell a little different story.”
The ventilation system must have air pushed through the building to eliminate volatile organic compounds(VOCs) or small bits of construction dust of before opening. That process is required for the building to comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standards.