INNISFAIL – Doug Bos continues to dream bigger and better.
Not intent to just sit back and let his new Winter Light the Night Display shine brilliantly at Discovery Wildlife Park during the holiday season with more than 600,000 lights, he has decided to add another 50 displays.
But he needed new storage space.
And he’s got it.
Bos, the co-owner of the park, was at Innisfail town council on May 13 seeking approval of a development permit to construct a 60 by 40 ft. building that will be 17 feet tall and cover 2,400 square feet of space at the northwest part of his 90-acre zoo.
During the council meeting, Meghan Jenkins, community services director for the Town of Innisfail, introduced a motion recommending council approve a development permit for the construction of a new cold storage shop at the zoo.
Council was told the park is regulated under a Direct Control District (DCD) within the Land Use Bylaw.
“Within a DCD, council may regulate and control the use or development of land or buildings in any manner they consider necessary,” said an administration report to council.
The report added previous development permits were issued at the park for the zoo itself, RV storage, a campground, various other accessory buildings (including cabins) and a new residence for Bos.
Bos told the Albertan he simply ran out of space in a storage facility he previously built on the east side of the park where his original supply of lights and displays are now stored.
“We just need more storage because that one's now plumb full. We don't have any room for all the new displays we built,” said Bos.
He said the new light displays were built by staff last winter following the second annual Winter Light the Night Display, a seasonal festival that ran from Nov. 17 to Jan. 6 with 27 kilometres of lights spread across 60 acres of the wildlife park.
“We will need room in the future because we’ll keep building new displays every year,” said Bos.
In the meantime, Bos has almost completed his new home at park, a new 2,400 square-foot residence also in the northwest area of park.
“We started building it last October 2,” said Bos, who for more than 20 years lived in one room at the park’s main building. “We’re just doing landscaping now.”
