2020 Season
Jay
New Building
Completed in the spring of 2020, our new visitor center and gift shop is a sight to behold! Taking a year and a half to complete, our new building spans between the two main habitats and towers above, providing plenty of elbow room and viewing opportunities for everyone.
New features include:
indoor balcony viewing – out of the wind and weather – and over the habitats, offering a new perspective
gift shop windows – nearly ground level for up-close bear watching
expanded restrooms – dedicated men’s and women’s restrooms inside the new building with multiple stalls and sinks in each, and changing stations and step stools in both
enhanced wheeled access – new ramp to the front of the building and pavers leading from the building to the black bear ramp – no more gravel
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to have our Grand Opening event. We were, however, able to open our doors in June with some COVID-19 prevention measures: scheduled appointments, limited group sizes, face masks, hand washing for everyone, covid tracking, and hourly facility wipe downs.
Our objective was to give cooped up families a safe place to get out of the house. Little did we know that many brave souls would venture from out of town and we were able to share our new building with hundreds of new faces this year – some from as far away as France, Ireland and Poland!
Whether new to Fortress Of The Bear or regular visitors (one family visited 10 times!), we received numerous positive comments about this grand building!