By Tara Smith

There is a rumble of construction equipment emanating from 4009 West Arrowhead Road in Duluth! We have been eagerly watching our new Wildwoods facility begin to take shape. The old garage has been pulled down and removed to make room for our parking lot. It was great fun for us all to help with the demolition! We have watched tons of rock being trucked in and distributed to the backyard to create a level surface for our first new building. Every day, we walk the staked off area where the walls will be, and daydream about what will materialize over the next few weeks during Phase 1 of our project. It’s a very exciting time as Wildwoods begins to grow in great leaps!

We are hoping all of our Phase 1 construction will be completed before the influx of spring animal admissions start to arrive. That means we have a lot to accomplish in the next few weeks! We have been gazing at the blueprints spread out over our newly built reception desk, and thoughtfully plotting sink and counter locations. We are designing each room and enclosure to best accommodate the needs of the animals that will require temporary shelter here while they recover from injuries, or become mature enough to survive on their own. Our first goal is to have a basic, functional, working facility. Further, and in keeping with our philosophy that we are stewards of the natural world we’re a part of, our facility will use recycled and earth friendly materials and systems that are energy efficient, and have minimal impact on the environment. Many of these systems are more expensive upfront, but will pay off financially and ecologically in the long run. We are hoping our community will rally in support of our dream of having a state of the art wildlife facility that will benefit both the Northland’s wildlife and neighborhoods. As we tirelessly and passionately strive to expand and improve, we hope you will please consider contributing to support our growth!