Columbia Springs’ sprawling property in east Vancouver offers opportunities to learn about nature and wander through some forested walking trails, but for the uninitiated it might be hard to know where to begin.
Now, officials with the nonprofit hope the creation of a new visitor center will better connect visitors with what the site has to offer.
“The visitor center was part of a bigger concept with how we can reach out to the community and provide an entrance to Columbia Springs,” said Columbia Springs Executive Director Maureen Montague.
Located near the Columbia River, just east of Interstate 205, Columbia Springs was the site of the first lumber mill in the Pacific Northwest and is the home of the Vancouver Trout Hatchery, which was constructed in 1938. The 100-acre site also includes a large park with more than two miles of walking trails, wildlife viewing decks and an education center.
For years the site has been a popular destination for school field trips where children can learn about streams, insects, native fish and more. But beyond what’s offered in the on-site classrooms, Montague said the site had lacked a place for casual visitors to drop by and learn about what’s offered.
“What we needed that was different from this space was some place for passive-use visitors to stop in and talk with somebody who’s trained, who understands what we do here, how we do it and give them site maps and information on upcoming events,” Montague said while standing in a classroom inside the historic fish hatchery.
The new visitor center will be near the parking lot along Southeast Evergreen Highway in what was once housing for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife employees that worked the fish hatchery next door. But the employees have been moved off-site and now Columbia Springs is turning it into an information center and space for staff and volunteers.
Without a visitor center, Columbia Springs Event Coordinator Kaley McLachlan-Burton said it was common for people to wander into the staff offices on the other side of property looking for information.
“People would come in with their kids and want to know about upcoming events and I’d be talking with the parents and kids would be playing with the photocopier,” she said. “We wanted something closer because people naturally gravitate toward (the hatchery). We wanted to be where the action was and wanted a space that looks more intentional to welcome people.”
The visitor center will have its grand opening at 4 p.m. Thursday, and starting this weekend it will be staffed by docents or lead volunteers.
