The Dean of Science at TRU says the $150,000 contribution from the Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation was the final piece of the puzzle needed to get the project to completion.

Tom Dickinson says the project was constantly falling short because of higher building costs, but adds it’s great to see that the Clearwater community is in favour of this project.

“It’ll be a really valuable addition to everything that we are doing as a university up in the Clearwater region but in particular in the corridor between Clearwater and the park,” he told NL. “I think it’s going to be really really welcome. It’ll help with the park interpretation and all of the sort of knowledge that we have about the natural resources of the park.”

Dickinson adds the total project is valued at $950,000, and the new 2,200 sq ft. facility will be a massive upgrade to the current one-room schoolhouse that’s being used for research and education.

“The Heritage Society of the Upper Clearwater allowed us to upgrade the one-room schoolhouse that has been used there since the middle part of the last century,” Dickinson added. “We intend to keep both of these facilities going with the public education being done out of the one-room schoolhouse, and the university academic education being done out of this new facility.”

TRU has owned and operated the facility since 1994, and Dickinson is hoping to see construction on the new facility completed by spring of next year, at the latest.

“We’re working on the details still but my goal would be to have something available, at the very least, for next spring’s field course that we’re going to be teaching up there,” he said. “We have a three week field course in terrestrial ecology that’s going up there. My greatest wish is that if we could have something this fall.”

Dickinson adds when fully up and running, the new facility will be able to house at least 20 students for several days.