No fooling, it was a momentous day.
Dozens of volunteers were on hand on Wednesday, April 1 when the city of Port Moody handed over the official occupancy permit for the new Mossom Creek Hatchery.
The permit means the building has been declared safe to inhabit and meets current building code requirements.
"It looks fabulous," said Robyn MacLeod, the city's manager of building, bylaw and licensing development services, who made the official presentation. "It's amazing what fabulous volunteers can do."
It's taken about 15 months to design and build the hatchery and education centre, replacing one that burned down in December 2013.
Among the construction highlights in recent weeks were the installation of a green roof for energy savings and a glass floor on the second-floor deck to let natural light into the hatchery area below where the fish are kept. As well, workers set up monitoring equipment so volunteers can keep track of water quality; installed tanks and tubs for chum, coho fry and juvenile pink salmon; and erected three webcams that will enhance the security of the building as well as enable people to see what's going on in the creek via the internet.
On the day The Tri-City News visited as part of the paper's ongoing commitment to support the project, approximately 3,000 chum fry were being deposited in the creek and another 50,000 that came from eggs from Alouette River salmon were placed in troughs to be given another few weeks to mature before they, too, are placed in the creek near Ioco Road, not far from where Port Moody Inlet and Mossom Creek meet.
The hatchery also received 4,000 coho fry from nearby Noons Creek to arrive soon. They will be raised at Mossom and kept in tanks for a year until they are mature enough for their journey from the inlet to the ocean. Pinks are expected to arrive later this year, the first time the hatchery will raise the popular fish.
Project manager Pat Dennett said it has taken a lot of work, fundraising and organizing by members of the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society to complete the $1.2-million project.
Still, much work remains to be done.
Dennett noted that plans are in the works to build a wetland where children can watch bugs and fish at play, and finish the second storey kitchen, offices and education centre.
Approximately, $40,000 is still needed for some of the remaining work but Dennett said he is pleased by how much had been accomplished already.
An opening day is being planned for later in May but, for now, there are still some finishing touches that are required.
To donate, visit www.mossomcreek.org.
@dstrandbergTC
