Master Plans » Master Plan for The Visitor's Center

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The architecture at the Visitor’s Center is designed and organized to blend with the surrounding farms, homesteads and small towns. Buildings will be constructed of logs, tin siding and local building materials simulating the scale and form of the gold rush era and the architecture of the old towns.

Fruit orchards will be an integral part of the landscape design and will supplement the diet of the elephants and other sanctuary animals.  A donor wall recognizing the donations of PAWS’ partners and other contributors will be incorporated into a garden of native plants and heirloom roses.

Three buildings replicating a small settlement will be the focal point of the Visitor’s Center. At the heart of the main building, a multi-purpose room will be equipped with television monitors and computers transmitting live images from inside the sanctuary’s animal habitats. Alternatively or concurrently, excerpts from PAWS’ “Wildlife Classroom to the World” will play. This space opens to a patio overlooking a grassy field where rescued donkeys, horses and cattle will sometimes graze. The multi-purpose room can be utilized for daily visitors or converted to a greeting area to welcome guests to special events.

A kitchen area adjacent to the multi-purpose room can be separated from that area by folding doors, or used as a staging area for caterers. A classroom off the multi-use room will be used for meetings and lectures, and offices will be located in one wing of the building with an area for Administrative staff and a small conference room.

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