Officials with Spruce View's Medicine River Wildlife Centre are hoping to have the shovels in the ground later this year for an ambitious renovation and expansion of the 21-year-old facility.Carol Kelly, the centre's founder and executive director, said the current facility suffers from a litany of problems including a lack of space, plumbing and electrical issues, and a breakdown of the centre's in-floor heating system. It was built in 1990.ìIt's showing its age a little bit more than normal because we were on a shoestring (budget),î Kelly explained. ìWe stretched the dollar and we ended up using material that was probably more home grade, as opposed to commercial.îFounded by Kelly in 1984, the centre cares for injured and orphaned animals until they can be returned to the wild while also educating members of the public. It also fields calls from landowners who are having issues with wildlife. Kelly said in the past owners would often turn to the 3S-treament (Shoot, Shovel and Shut up) to deal with unwanted animals.ìThe trend is not to go that way anymore,î she said, noting the facility currently cares for about 1,300 patients per year.While the majority of patients are birds, Kelly said they have treated more than 180 different species of animals.ìWe do get lots of different species of mammals - everything from weasels to moose,î Kelly explained. ìNinety-nine per cent of them have been injured by human interaction.îThe two-phase upgrade will cost a little over $2.1 million. Phase 1, which is budgeted at $650,000, will involve the construction of a new hospital wing and the renovation of the current hospital. Phase 2, which will include the construction of a new interpretive centre, will cost $1.5 million.The current interpretive centre is in great demand for tourists, Kelly said. The new interpretive centre would be more ìtourist-friendlyî and provide a better home for the centre's education programs.ìIt wasn't built as a tourist centre,î Kelly said of the current interpretive centre. ìRight now we have to set up chairs and pull down a screen. Whereas the new wing would actually have a lecture theatre.îKelly said the centre's biggest concern is the disintegration of the original PVC pipe in-floor heating system. As it disintegrates, it causes blockages in the system which means 50 per cent of the building is now cold. When it was installed it was cutting-edge and efficient and would keep the building warm even after a power outage, Kelly said.Unfortunately the current system cannot be repaired, she added.ìIn a smaller floor I've heard you can go in, put something down and open those blockages,î she said. ìBut in a floor of the size we have it's done.îThe new system will use PEX tubing contained within an acrylic floor. The flexible piping, made of cross-linked polyethylene, does not corrode and comes with a 50-year life expectancy.ìThat way it will not disintegrate and will be back to hopefully better than its original (state),î Kelly explained.The bulk of the centre's annual funding of $400,000 comes from donations and proceeds from its casino, which occurs every year-and-a-half at Stampede Casino in Calgary. Other sources include limited government grants, as well as calendar and raffle ticket sales.ìThe problem is you have limited people to do the fundraising,î Kelly lamented. ìSo it's kind of a catch-22 ñ you need the money to do the work, but you need the people too.îThe centre has already put about $50,000 into the project and will need to raise a further $650,000 to complete Phase 1, Kelly said. They are hoping to start some of the groundwork on the new wing this fall with work continuing over the winter.If anyone is interested in donating visit www.medicineriverwildlifecentre.ca, e-mail [email protected], or call (403) 728-3467. In-kind donations are always appreciated, Kelly explained.ìIt doesn't actually have to be cash. If somebody has got a skill they could offer, that works too,î she said. ìSome of it is just plain grunt labour.î
