Major renovation will ‘re-imagine’ Oak Hammock Marsh

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/10/2023 (892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Oak Hammock Marsh’s educational centre will close for several months for extensive renovations, though the wildlife management area surrounding it will still be open to visitors.

The non-profit’s Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre, which hosts its environmental education programs and exhibits, will close its doors on Nov. 1 to begin about $18 million worth of renovations that are expected to “completely re-imagine the space,” the centre’s spokesman, Jacques Bourgeois, said on Wednesday.

The centre is tentatively slated to re-open next summer.

“We are renovating the whole building,” Bourgeois said. “We have to re-do all the HVAC, all the plumbing, the wiring, and it’s going to be all brand-new exhibits in the discovery centre as well.”

The marsh is frequently visited by birdwatchers, school children and others as migratory birds, including ducks and geese, fly over the wetlands in the hundreds of thousands in the fall.

The area is also home to at least 30 mammal species and 300 species of birds, as well as amphibians, reptiles, fish and invertebrates.

The discovery centre currently includes a theatre, cafe, gift shop, meeting rooms, rooftop observation deck and interactive exhibits.

The centre, which is located on the edge of the Oak Hammock Marsh Wildlife Management Area north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood, is operated as a partnership between the province and the wetlands conservation organization Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Ducks Unlimited’s national headquarters is in a building adjacent to the centre.

Bourgeois said many Ducks Unlimited staff began to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the building partially empty.

“We’re going to take over some of that (Ducks Unlimited) space, to extend our footprint and turn it into a waiting room, a banquet room, more publicly accessible areas,” he said.

“The building is 30 years 0ld — 30 years ago, we were top of the line in terms of efficiency, we were one of the greenest buildings, but our technology is 30 years old, so we have to upgrade (to) bring it up to standard.”

Visitors to the marsh will still be able to walk the trail network, while the centre’s staff will still hold some workshops and events in the wildlife management area.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca