(Medicine River Wildlife Centre)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

FINISH LINE IN SIGHT

Private donor helps Medicine River Wildlife Centre complete hospital

Aug 30, 2019 | 11:30 AM

The wait is nearly over for the Medicine River Wildlife Centre to open its new animal hospital.

Earlier this month, rdnewsNOW reported on frustration coming from the centre because of unexpected delays in potentially being granted $125,000 through the province’s Community Facility Enhancement Program.

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The amount represents the final chunk needed to complete the decade-long project.

Now, a private donor has stepped forward with the cash to help see the project through.

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“It takes a huge weight off of me. Thinking that we’d once again be held up and waiting. It’s very exciting now,” says Carol Kelly, Executive Director. “We’re ordering the new flooring which will come next week, the paneling and we have some unique ideas for caging. It’s lifted everybody’s spirits to know we can just keep motoring through.”

Talk about renovations began 10 years ago, Kelly notes.

“Then about eight years ago, we started moving forward with what we thought was going to be renovations, and then we realized well into the planning stages the building wasn’t worth renovating,” she recalls. “It was too old and not what we needed, so we decided to go for the top of the line.”

Getting to this point wasn’t easy in the least, she explains.

“We have encountered people who promised us big things and never followed through, difficulty with staffing, and a dishonest contractor, so it’s been an interesting journey,” says Kelly.

“We’ve come out the other end however with a super amount of people who’ve supported this project, the Bowden Institution crew we have here does a ton of work and has saved us around $200,000, and then some major and smaller donors have also come through. It’s almost surreal.”

Work will be finished through the winter before a grand opening event in the spring.

The entire project from start to finish is worth approximately $1.2 million. The Medicine River Wildlife Centre has cared for approximately 1500 patients in 2019.