This Land, Your Land

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has awarded a $4.9 million contract for a 17,840-square-foot regional visitors center to be built on Roanoke Island, the Department of Interior said Wednesday.

The Gateway Visitor Center and Headquarters at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge will educate visitors about wildlife and conservation in the area and house the refuge’s 30-plus staff members.

Money for the project comes from $3 billion the Department of the Interior received in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, aka the Stimulus Bill. "This investment will also create jobs for the local community," the Fish & Wildlife Service's news release says.

MWH Constructors, Inc., of Broomfield, Colorado, will design and build the center.

The FWS said previously that it anticipates 200,000 visitors annually to the center, which will include a book store, exhibit space, an environmental education classroom, a multi-purpose room and exterior interpretive facilities.

The FWS operates 10 coastal National Wildlife Refuges in North Carolina to safeguard wildlife populations through habitat preservation, which offers prime opportunity to view or photograph birds and other wildlife. The refuges also offer hunting, fishing, boating, hiking and other recreational activities when they are considered compatible with the refuge's wildlife preservation mission.