Osoyoos Desert Centre executive director Denise Eastlick, surrounded by funders of the centre’s new building, thanks the community for its contributions at an event on July 9. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

It’s been nearly three months since the Osoyoos Desert Centre opened for the season with a new interpretive building, and now its society is formally recognizing donors.

At an appreciation event for building project funders, supporters, community partners and sponsors on July 9, the Osoyoos Desert Society officially thanked everyone who pitched in to purchase the new $120,000 12-by-60 foot modular building to house the centre’s exhibits, admissions and gift shop.

The new building replaces three mobile trailers donated by the Ministry of Forests in 1998.

“They welcomed around 10,000 visitors a year, that’s 200,000 pairs of feet,” society president Lee McFadyen told attendees.

“No wonder their floors were tired and the doors squeaked and the roof leaked, although that had more to do with the heavy snow load during the 2017/18 season.”

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Funders included the Osoyoos Credit Union, Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Town of Osoyoos, Community Foundation South Okanagan Similkameen, Province of B.C. and the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen.

Individual donors, including Ernst and Kathie Westphal, also pitched in.

Ernst Westphal said he helped do repairs at the old building and recognized the need for a new one.

“I had the good fortune of winning a large amount of money from the Hero’s Lottery so my wife and I sat down and said ‘what are we going to do with it?’ We didn’t need a new car.”

Centre executive director Denise Eastlick praised donors and said along with financial support, they kept the society motivated throughout the process as well.

“When people supported this building project, they supported so, so much more than a building,” she said.

“What they supported was our ability to continue to conserve and protect this endangered habitat. That’s really what it was all about – saving this habitat for future generations.”

Future plans include adding a “skirt” to the building, painting the nearby restoration building to match, replacing a sign to include recognition of supporters, and landscaping with plants indigenous to the area.

Funders of the Osoyoos Desert Centre’s new building throw “seed balls” into an open area at the centre. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

The Osoyoos Desert Centre is open for the season with a new building. On July 11, the Desert Centre Society thanked funders. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)