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Show i , ';'.; ' . ' V " ''; ' ;' '- ' I ; ' tr - v. i ,v ' ? .'-'Iff : Iff I 1 : W,,- V..:... .i,,,,,,,,,,-, llA Museum creator Robert Driedonks sits with Merle Prince, Panguitch Cty economic development develop-ment director. Prince pursued the idea to develop the old Panguitch High School into a business incubation center which will provide for Driedonks' museum and other businesses. Wildlife Museum Will Open New Panguitch Business Center PANGUITCH Innovative and creative partnering in Panguitch is resulting in the expansion of the city's business community. It is also providing an opportunity for one man's 20-year dream to be fulfilled ful-filled while preserving and renovating reno-vating the city's nearly 60-year-old high school building, fond in the memories of so many in town. The Panguitch Business Incubation Incu-bation Center will open its doors in about two weeks, says Merle Prince, Panguitch City economic development director. Prince says he conceived the idea for the center after a visit with Dr. Dean Hiskey at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. The Panguitch City Council subsequently subse-quently authorized Prince to attend a meeung of the National Business Incubation Association in Fresno, Calif, in 1993. The group evolved out of a desire to not only preserve old buildings but make them once again useful and Panguitch was interested in making good use of the old high school originally built in 1936. A Pan-guitch Task Force was formed with renovation of the old high school as its number one priority. Prince applied for a $69,000 grant from Resource Conservation and Development (RCAD) available avail-able for updating and renovating older buildings. Prince cited four qualifying needs on his application, electrical, plumbing, heating and handicapped access. Panguitch City committed $5,000 toward the project and the equivalent of $10,000 was pledged in volunteer in-kind labor. The volunteers pulled up old flooring and replaced it with flooring from the LDS Stake Center. They also replaced 1 ,056 window' panes in the facility and cleared a shaft that will later be used for an electric hoist to make all floors accessible to those in wheelchairs. Prince knew that the grant would not be sufficient to cover all costs, so he identified funds available through the U. S. Forest service for communities impacted by natural resources decisions such as the closing of the sawmill in Panguitch. The Task Force applied for and received an additional $20,000 toward the project from the Forest Service. The Panguitch City Council also authorized Prince to apply for a $25,000 loart from the Five County Association, again with positive results. With everything in place, Panguitch City will use its Incubation Center to help new business get started by making space available at a reasonable rate for three to five years. Because the national association recommends that each Incubation Center have one business, termed an "anchor business," which will remain, be stable and depended upon to serve as a nucleus while other businesses may be expected to come and go. Robert Driedonks and his desire to establish a wildlife museum seemed to fit the bill. Driedonks had approached Prince with his concept about two years ago, for the Paunsaugunt Wildlife Museum. Driedonks, was originally from Holland. His 83-year-old mother successfully ran three flower shops in Las Vegas where Driedonks was a bellman for 20 years. He was also an avid hunter and collector of wildlife specimens. When he saw how intrigued European were with wildlife in the states, he decided that lie would one day have his own wildlife educational museum. After starting a paint contracting business in 1990 in Las Vegas, he had more lime to search for just the right place and found Panguitch. Driedonks has leased the old gym for his museum and the first classroom on the first floor for a gift shop. The Panguitch Cabinet & Toy Company has leased the bottom floor which formerly housed the old shop and home economics rooms. Randy Klein hopes to employ up to 10 people in coming years. Claudia Crump has leased one of the offices and will open a quilt shop next to the gift shop leased by Driedonks. The Garfield County Travel Council is considering moving from the courthouse into the last available large office. CIT Commmunications of Escalante will branch out and open another office in Panguitch for "satisfaction calling." The company has contracts with several businesses nationwide to do survey calling on customer satisfaction with services. They will start the Panguitch office with five callers and one supervisor with hopes of expanding to some 20 callers. CIT Communications will open its office in about two weeks. Remaining callers in Escalante will work from their homes. While much remains to be done in the building, some facilities will open before others. In the meantime, mean-time, two offices remain to be leased on the third floor. Driedonk's Paunsaugunt Wildlife Wild-life Museum will be the first to open, with 10 display cases with scenes depicting actual settings where different species live. Driedonks has collected over 230 different specimens for the museum. He constructed the enclosures for the displays himself with a little outside help in framing. The murals for each were professionally painted by talented artist Brian Wignall of Las Vegas. Driedonks personally selected the sand or dirt and vegetation for each display. He spent numerous hours collecting just the right habitat specimens, shrubbery, cactus, and trees, first securing all the necessary permits required from supervising government agencies. Driedonks said that Carl Guillcttc, district ranger at the Powell District Office of the Dixie National Forest, and others have provided much help in his goal of authenticity, along with taxidermist Russell Bulkley, Panguitch. His cases will display a desert bighorn sheep scene, Canadian lynx in winter, bobcats scene, a waterfowl water-fowl scene, an antelope scene, an Arizona scene with a javalina, coyote and coatimundi, raccoons, deer and a Bryce Canyon scene with a little of everything from beaver to deer. The large final case will display exotic African and European animals. Other animals displayed above the cases and mixed in the scenes are moose, bison, caribou, elk, antelope, badgers, bear and boars. A 50-foot center display in the museum will feature birds of prey, Indian artifacts and fossils. He has also decorated the museum with older period items that include a Civil War cart and an old railroad lantem. With lots of local help, he had completely landscaped outside the facility, highlighting the area with old wagons that include an old grain wagon, seed wagon, Amish wagon, and a water tower. New plexiglass signing is also on the way for each display case to educate museum visitors about each display. Driedonks anticipates he will charge the public $4 for adults, $2.50 for children ages 6-12, and free for those under 6 for entrance into the museum. Special rates will apply for local patrons. The gift shop will feature posters, cards, animal-related items, mounted quail, key chains, T-shirts and hats. |
