Contractors are about halfway finished with the build-out on the new Orange Beach Wildlife Center and Management Program and Coastal Resources Coordinator Melissa Vinson is excited about several features not in the current center.

“While the old center has served us well, we are very excited about the new center,” Vinson said. “The things I’m most excited about are the interns not being housed there, having separate rehab rooms to separate various species (so a squirrel won’t be housed next to a hawk anymore), X-ray onsite, walk-in freezer and fridge going to be awesome, a separate quarantine space will be so beneficial, a surgery room so surgeries can happen at the center will be amazing.”

Another feature caused Vinson, who answered questions in an email from the OBA Community Website, to use all caps.

“A DISHWASHER,” Vinson wrote. Interns live at the center and must share the sink for domestic uses and for caring for and cleaning animals.

“So, the same sink that we defrost rats/fish in, clean dirty wildlife dishes in, and bathe a smaller animal in, is the same sink they wash their food dishes in,” Vinson said. “Not ideal at all. It will also give them more privacy as well. On their off days, if they decide to sleep in or are having a leisurely morning making breakfast or coffee, they will have to wait until the kitchen clears out a little as there is a morning rush of feedings and meds taking place for the animals. Additionally, living at a wildlife center means the sounds and smells of a wildlife center, and all that it may attract.”

There is a home on the site of the new center and it is being renovated and upgraded and be a short walk from the center. Vinson said they will move in there once the work on the house is done.

The current center is in an older home once in the Walker family on the city’s recreation campus. In one of two houses there. Several animals are residents and many are brought there injured or in shock to release them back into the wild.

Left to do at the new site are lots of infrastructure and basic needs of any building.

“For the interior build-out, installing the grinder pump, walk freezer, and fridge are the largest components yet to be installed, but they'll go in in a day or two once they arrive,” Vinson said. “They still have to finish sheetrock, drop-in ceilings, lighting, finish electrical, plumbing fixtures (sinks, toilet, shower, washtub, etc.), HVAC, painting, doors, flooring, trim, cabinets, countertops, etc.”

The center will also have an X-ray machine to be used in caring for the animals brought there. The center being built on Powerline Road will also have space for Backcountry Trail project staff and a covered outdoor classroom. Other features for trail staff include two offices, a break room, bathrooms and a large workshop space.

The first phase cost $899,767 and it will cost $730,600 for the wildlife center build-out with a huge majority funded with Restore Act money.

“This included the foundation, complete metal building, build-out of the trail shop side (offices, break room, shop space), and slab rough-ins for phase two or the wildlife side,” Vinson said. “Wildlife and trail share the metal building we are just operating out of two different sides that are separated by a covered outdoor space.”

A flight enclosure to rehabilitate injured raptors has been operational since April of 2022 and currently has a bald eagle undergoing rehabilitation. Vinson said the hope is to have the center operational this summer.