Batoche Visitor Reception Centre redeveloped plans announced
Visitors to Batoche, here in the grand passage last week, had a chance to see the proposed changes to the Visitor Reception Centre.
By Rod Andrews
Plans for the redevelopment of the Visitor Reception Centre at Batoche National Historic Site of Canada were discussed with the general public last week during the showing of the site’s current AV presentation.
Ray Fidler, site manager, said the Heritage Presentation plan drawings are in the preliminary phase. Plans for the redevelopment of the VRC have been in the works since 2005, with Fidler pointing out that what is going to be done had pretty well been vetted by all interested partners in the site.
“The plans were released at this time to give the general public an idea to what is going to be happening here. We will listen to any concerns that arise and if there are any major issues that the public sees, they will be addressed,” he pointed out.
Fidler said VRC construction work is expected to start as early as this week after the facility is turned over to the general contractor, Don Haggkvist of Tri-City Construction, tomorrow.
Since the NHSC closed last fall, just about everything, except the concession sink and Gabriel Dumont’s pool table, has been packed and moved out. Historical artifacts have gone in storage and the administration offices have been relocated to the maintenance building to allow the contractor free access to the entire complex.
Fidler said the major change to the VRC will be seen at the front entrance, where the entry area will be enlarged and expanded to the south, while the gift shop, concession and reception areas will be expanded to the east. There will also be washrooms that are accessible from the outside.
The current grand passageway, which extends from the far east of the building, past the concession and gift shop, reception area, theatre and exhibits hall to the far west, will remain as it is.
Outdoors, between the administration wing, which is located north of the reception area, is an open space that is going to be closed to accommodate a new mechanical area, change rooms for staff and storage.
Outdoors, north of the grand passage, between the theatre and exhibits area, a new audio-visual area will be installed, along with a conference boardroom.
“Renovations to the exhibits area will also be undertaken. It will give the area a more open concept with less walls,” said Fidler.
He said the only display that will remain with certainty is the bison and the pool table being the only major artifact to remain as well.
There will also be slight renovations to the theatre, including removal of the “cloth” projection screen, as the future audiovisual presentation will be in a new high definition projection system.
Fidler said the major change that will be seen to the VRC will be across the front of the grand passage.
The south facing front of the grand passage includes massive sheets of glass that takes the heat of the sun and warms the building tremendously during the hot summer months that the VRC is open to the public.
He said most of the glass is going to be replaced with what they are calling a “thermal mass” to reduce solar conductivity and reduce solar gain.
The material used in the thermal mass has not been finalized, but may be stone or wood or another material that is insulated on the interior side.
In addition, the plans show an overhang – a good old-fashioned shading system – will also be installed to cut down on sunlight.
Fidler said the sunshade has a second purpose besides reducing the heating effects of the sun, which will be to shade four “interpretive nodes” that are being installed on the face of the thermal mass. Each south facing node will contain a display of material, which could be printed or seen on a special electronic video display, hence the need for the shading.
Due to changes to parts of the interior of the various buildings attached to the grand passage, Fidler said the grand passage will be wider than it currently is.
Funding for the project totalled $3.6 million and was set-aside in the Parks Canada budget over a period from 2005 to 2009.
The money was set-aside to upgrade the infrastructure at the site as well as making the VRC a “more functional and sustainable place to orientate the visitor”.
Work on the project is expected to take place most of this year’s visitor season and should be ready for 2011.
With the VRC being closed to visitors this year, alternative arrangements are being made for programming this year, including adding relocatable buildings by the church and rectory, and the addition of programs that do not require the facilities they had employed in the past.
