Despite a few rainy days, the $1 million visitor center at Kensington Rune Stone Park is still on track to be completed by mid-September.
“We’ve missed a day or two here or there,” said Brad Bonk, parks superintendent. “Nothing is delayed though.”
Since breaking ground in May, the building’s footings have been poured and the walls have been insulated. The cement portion of the walls is being poured now.
“The concrete walls make up three-quarters of the building,” Bonk said. “Once that’s done, they’ll start working on the roof and the wood framing for the windows. A lot of the front of the building is windows.”
When complete, the visitor center will include a community room, lobby, outdoor patio, bathrooms and more. The 1,100-square foot community room will hold small gatherings of 50 to 75 people. The building will stay accessible year-round, so it may serve as a warming area for families using the sledding hill.
The building will also feature a 350-square foot interpretive room, which Bonk says is a small, intimate space intended to capture the history of the Kensington Runestone. The room will house museum-quality exhibits and displays that will capture and depict the story of the stone and the history of the land where it was found.
“The last phase (of building) is the interpretive room,” Bonk said. “The building will be complete before that, but it will be a matter of installing that and finishing interior work. We’re still on track for mid-September.”
