An open house to be held 7-9 p.m. June 23 at West Creston Hall will be another step in gathering community input on the future of the Wildlife Interpretation Centre (WIC) at the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area (CVWMA).
The goal is to develop viable, sustainable options for the centre, said Dave Hillary, president and CEO of Conservation by Design, who has been contracted by the CVWMA Interpretive Centre Committee, itself developed to find ways to maintain the centre when Ducks Unlimited Canada takes over control of the CVWMA and stops running the WIC.
Over the summer, a review of past activities at the centre and a facility assessment will be conducted, and input will be gathered by engaging the public and stakeholders via telephone.
“We’re going to pull all that back before we roll out the options in another open house on Sept. 15,” he said.
On that date, three to five options for the WIC’s future will be presented, and one of those will be selected to have a business plan created by Dec. 1.
Hillary has only been working on the project for a matter of weeks, and can already see that residents want the centre to stick around.
“People see the centre as being an integral part of the Creston community,” he said. “I think the wildlife centre and interpretive centre are iconic with Creston and beyond.”