Photo by Becky Polaski Progress is being made on the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette and the Center is expected to open sometime in the summer of 2010.

By Becky Polaski

Staff Writer

Crews continue to make progress on the construction of the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette and the Center is expected to open sometime in the summer of 2010. 

The parking lot for the Center is expected to hold between 90 and 100 vehicles and there will also be a separate lot for RV and bus parking. A cul-de-sac in front of the building will also allow individuals to be let off at a drop off center near the facility to allow for a shorter walk. The drop off center is expected to contain informational kiosks on things to do in the area and in other parts of the PA Wilds as well as information on area businesses, restaurants, and hotels.

As individuals progress from the drop off center to the main entrance of the Visitor Center, they will encounter different landscapes representing the various habitats in which elk can be found.

“We’re going to be interpreting those landscapes as you leave the parking lot going to the building,” Rawley Cogan, a consultant under contract with the PA Parks and Forests Foundation as a Project Manager for the Visitor Center, explained. “People are going to learn as soon as they get out of the car.”

Located underground outside of the building will also be a 20,000 gallon grey water tank that will hold rainwater collected from the roof. This water will be recycled and reused throughout the facility.

As individuals enter the facility they will see the Center’s double sided fireplace, which will be wood burning and have a foundation made of stone from off the property.

“So when you’re standing here looking at the firebox you’ll be able to look right through the firebox into the Great Room and you’ll see fire on both sides,” Cogan said. “It is real wood. It is not propane logs. It is the wood that smokes and crackles and all that kind of stuff.”

To the right of the entrance is the theater, which is where individuals are encouraged to start their tour of the Center. According to Cogan, the show in the theater is around 20 minutes long and individuals cannot walk in during the middle of it. While they wait for each showing, they will be in an area where a pre show will take place. There will be a wildlife biologists office showcasing some of the activities involved with that profession and a video that plays to prepare people for the theater experience.

The theater itself will hold an estimated 44 people on split logs arranged in bench style seating. The seats will be set up in an arch and each level will be slightly raised so that the individuals in the back can see over those in front of them.

The front of the theater will be a large window offering a scenic view of the wilderness outside the Center. On the inside of the window will be a large accordian-type door to block light from entering the theater and sound from leaving the building and in front of that will be a large screen where video will be shown during each presentation. There will also be two side screens where video will be shown as well.

Down in the front of the theater will be a fake fire ring that will be used to produce various effects throughout the presentation.

“The theme here is when people come into the theater it will look like they are outside in the wilderness and they are sitting around a campfire,” Cogan explained.

The video presentation is also expected to provide audience interaction through sight, sound, smell and touch.

“The sight and sound are the easy stuff,” Cogan said. “For smell we’re going to introduce the smell of a campfire and maybe the smell of hemlock trees and dirt. We haven’t decided on all the smells yet. We’re also talking about making it snow. We’re also talking about making it rain though we’ve had some issues with that.”

To give audiences the feel that they are actually in the scene they are watching Cogan explained that the seats might shake as a herd of elk runs by or as lumbermen are show cutting down a tree.

“The theater is going to be what we consider the trademark or the experience that we want people to remember when they leave here, second only to seeing elk,” Cogan explained. “Inside this building this is what we consider will be the signature experience.”

The theater will also be ADA accessible.

As the show ends the accordion doors will open at the same time that the front screen rises, revealing a large window that provides audiences with a spectacular view of the Pennsylvania Wilds.

“Basically the end result is go out and explore Pennsylvania’s wilds and Pennsylvania’s elk range,” Cogan said. “Go out and learn about it.”

As individuals leave the theater they will pass through a post show area where conservation messages from the theater will be reinforced.

“There won’t be anything that they’ll stop and interact with because we want to move them into the Great Room, but mostly it will be like a still of a video and at the time it will be very clear to them what they saw and what they heard and it will reinforce some of those conservation messages,” Cogan said.

The Great Room will include a diorama of full mounted animals in the center. It will be 9 feet wide by 18 feet long and is expected to include fully mounted bull elk, cow elk and an elk calf as well as other animals unique to the Pennsylvania Wilds such as fishers, bobcats and coyotes. Two supports in the Great Room will be turned into trees which will also contain mounted animals.

There will also be interactive displays along the front wall and other mobile displays throughout the Great Room as well. According to Cogan, the mobility of the displays will allow for banquets to be held in the Great Room and the exhibits to be moved so that tables and chairs can be brought in.

On the other side of the Great Room is the Discovery Room, which will feature a variety of hands-on activities. This area will also be used when students visit the center.

Designed as multiple use space, the Discovery Room will also double as a meeting space and is connected to a kitchenette where a caterer can set up to serve a meal.

After passing through the Discovery Room individuals will end up at the Center’s large gift shop, which will feature products from local artisans as well as souvenirs.

The Center will also contain plenty of storage space and several offices.

According to Cogan the Center will have a staff of a minimum of three full-time employees.

“They will be looking to staff the Center sometime in the spring,” Cogan said. “We’re looking at a grand opening of next summer, whether it be July, August or June. We’d like to get the staff hired before then so they can get trained and understand the building and how it works.”

Outside of the Visitor Center will also be trails that lead to viewing blinds along fields frequented by elk.

Cogan also expressed interest in reviving the Elk Expo and holding it at the Center as early as next fall. He explained that another purpose of the cul-de-sac in front of the building is to allow for vendors to set up on the outside and inside radius. There are electrical outlets on the inside of the cul-de-sac and at select points along the outside which will allow vendors to have access to electricity for cooking and lighting.

“Eventually we’d like to see the Elk Expo come back here,” Cogan said.

The Visitor Center is also now a Commonwealth-owned building following the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation giving up their stake in the project.

“(The Commonwealth) has always owned the building and when the Elk Foundation backed out they had to give up the property because the State’s got this investment here,” Cogan said. “The Commonwealth owns the land and the building right now. It is a Commonwealth project so DCNR is basically the lead on this.”

 Cogan noted that DCNR made very few changes after taking over control of the project.

“In terms of the building there was very little change. In terms of the interpretive displays very few were changed,” Cogan said. “Some of the changes were obvious kinds of things because we had some displays in there that showcased the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Since they’re not a partner anymore those kinds of things go away. Those are the kinds of changes we’re talking about. Basically it has been almost a seamless transition between the two.”