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Show Construction To Start On Two GSENM Visitor Ctrs The Bureau of Land Management Manage-ment has awarded contracts for construction of the first two visitor centers in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, one located in Garfield County. The $1.3 million contract for the visitor center in Big Water was awarded to Cal Wadsworth Construction Con-struction of Bluffdale and the Cannonville Visitor Center contract, con-tract, at $ 1 million, was awarded to Bird Construction of Provo. ' Thebeau Construction, located in Kanab, was named site inspector for both visitor centers at a cost of $9,100 a month for the eight to 10-month 10-month construction period. Construction Con-struction is expected to begin Monday in Cannonville and by the end of the month in Big Water. Construction of the two visitors visi-tors centers is the first step in meeting the Monument Plan's decision to locate visitor contact stations in local communties su-rounding su-rounding the Monument. Ground breaking and construction should begin in September. "This is a major step in our integrating the Monument management manage-ment activities with the local communities com-munities and improving services to residents and visitors," stated Monument Manager Kate Cannon. Each of the visitor centers has a unique focus designed to incorporate the history and natural resources found in the Monument and southern south-ern Utah. Each of the visitor centers is designed around a unique theme. The theme for the 3,000-square-foot Big Water Visitor Center is paleontology. paleon-tology. In fact, the building has been designed in the spiral form of the shell of an ammonite, an extinct sea creature whose skeletons are found throughout the Monument Monu-ment and southern Utah. Exhibits on dinosaurs and sea life from prehistoric pre-historic times will be featured. Included In-cluded in the exhibits will be significant signi-ficant discoveries made by residents of Big Water and surrounding communities. com-munities. The architectural firm is Gillies, Stransky and Brems. The theme for the Cannonville Visitors Center is human geography, geogra-phy, the relationship between people peo-ple and the landscape. ' Exhibits will focus on how geography, water, and native plants and animals influenced the activities of Native Americans and early explorers and helped and hindered settlement by pioneers. The 3980-square-foot Cannonville Cannon-ville Visitor Center was designed in cooperation with local residents, with 1,380-square-feet of the total devoted to a separate building for use as a combination town hall and lecture room for interpretive displays. |