A big, heartfelt thanks from the Board and staff of The Couchiching Conservancy! We had an incredible turn-out to our office re-opening celebration.
Sincere thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for making this office renovation possible. This grant is matched by a legacy gift from Bill Grant, the original owner and steward of Grant’s Woods.
For over a year, it seemed like the racket from construction would never end. The sound of birds singing was replaced by nail guns and table saws. There were times that I considered giving up on any attempt of keeping my desk clean of sawdust and dirt. Having no running water and only outdoor compost toilets was a reality of working for The Couchiching Conservancy during office renovations.
Thankfully, everything I’ve just described is now a thing of the past. It has all been worth it in the end. Today, we have a beautiful, clean looking office that is accessible to all visitors, powered by solar and heated and cooled by geothermal. And hey, we even have a new water system and low flush toilet (and both are inside!).
Now that the renovations are complete, we are in celebration mode. The office of The Couchiching Conservancy and the 52 acre forest known as Grant’s Woods is hosting two events this month.
Before I get to the events, I need to talk about the individuals that were involved. The renovation committee, consisting of David Homer, Ken Thomson, Bruce Duncan, Kristi McKechnie, Don Scott, Dorthea Hangaard and Mark Bisset shared their vision to tread lightly on the environment, create a more functional working environment, and a public welcome centre that supports our mission to protect nature and to practice what we preach.
Last week we welcomed almost 100 people to an open house to celebrate re-opening of the Land Trust Centre and contributions from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, William Grant, local businesses and volunteers who made it all possible. It’s difficult to sum up all of the positive comments we heard that day. Words like, amazing, incredible, wonderful and lovely were used regularly. The staff are very proud to show off the space and happy to have a well-functioning place to work. If you weren’t able to attend the re-opening, please feel free to stop by. One of the staff would be happy to show you all of the work that has been done.
The office renovation was made possible by a grant from The Ontario Trillium Foundation and a bequest from William Grant who donated the Grant’s Woods property. The building was originally donated to the Conservancy back in the early 2000’s, and Trillium was a key partner in converting the home into an office space. The work that was done during the first renovation was important to our 2016 construction as well. Many materials, such as the windows of the old front entrance, were re-purposed in different ways.
The second gathering this month is the Orillia Chamber of Commerce ‘Business After 5’. We’re very happy to host one of their events and appreciate the support from the Chamber. This event is open to all Orillia Chamber members and is a fun evening of connecting and re-connecting with members of the business community.
Use the arrows to view the pictures:
(pictures from the re-opening at the end of this album. You can also view this photo album on Flick here)
