The V.I. National Park has plans to build an environmental heritage center — if $3 million for the project is approved by Congress and President Clinton.
The center is intended to provide "the best possible setting and facility for the park to teach the importance of preserving and protecting the archeological, cultural, terrestrial and marine resources for this and future generations," a National Park Service release states.
It also would "provide an impetus to improve cooperation among park visitors, park partners and the local community in the protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources," the release says.
A team from the NPS Design Center in Denver recently completed an "ideal" design concept for the facility. It incorporates an open-air setting, indigenous building materials and ecologically sustainable practices. The design includes a roofed orientation amphitheater that can accommodate 75 persons and four "resource pods" that will focus, respectively, on marine ecology, land ecology, pre-Columbian archeology and post-Columbian cultural history. Each will have interactive displays.
Two prospective sites for the center have been identified: Cinnamon Bay near the existing amphitheater, and Honeymoon Beach. "An open public process will determine if the design concept is viable, and which site is most appropriate for construction," the release states.
The $3 million project is on the NPS appropriations list for funding from Congress, according to the release, and its fate depends on whether the project "appears on the President's budget in early January." If it appears in the budget, the park will begin the public planning process. It is hoped that a congressional appropriation a year from now will provide the funds for actual construction.
However, the federal funding would be for building construction only. "Private contributions are needed to assure adequate display space and classroom amenities," the release states. It notes that the Friends of the V.I. National Park is sponsoring a gala dinner dance on Dec. 29 to start raising such funds. "Private contributions in hand will positively influence the congressional hearings on appropriations," the release states.