Hol Chan Inaugurates New Office
& Visitor Center
Almost one year after renovation works got underway, staff members of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve office in San Pedro proudly welcomed town officials, fisheries department personnel, and the general public to the inauguration of their new office and visitor center, which took place October 7, 2005. Assisted by Eiden Salazar Jr., Hol Chan staff member Cordelia Shal cheerfully performed the honors of cutting the ribbon on Friday, inviting guests to go inside and check out the new building.
"From start to finish, it was a great teamwork effort performed by members of the Hol Chan staff in the renovations of the new office and visitor center," said Miguel Alamilla, Manager of the Hol Chan Office. "We also got assistance from many volunteers, such as Guardians of the Reef, who helped us with the painting of the building. It's practically a new building made of re-enforced concrete, and we extend an invitation to everyone to come and see the new changes that were done."
The renovation project came at a cost of approximately $150,000 BZE dollars and got started back in November 2004. Displays of marine life and information provided at the Visitor Center is very impressive, especially the wall mural painting done almost entirely by Mr. Elgar Badillo, Hol Chan Technician. It took Elgar about 3 weeks to complete an awesome display of marine creatures, coral reef, and seagrass with a beautiful background painting of the Caribbean Sea. Along with the Manatee skeleton display, the mural will definitely become a favorite with the visiting pre-school children. A small gift shop will soon be added to the center, where visitors will be able to purchase memorabilia, including T-shirts and cool caps.
Staff members are always at hand to welcome visitors at the new Hol Chan Marine office and visitor center, which is open to the general public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday's.
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