The Wasatch Wildlife Conservation Center, formerly the Park City Hummingbird Hospital, is partnering with the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter to build a raptor rehabilitation and flight testing enclosure at the Wallin Barn.
The barn is on Swaner land by state Route 224 and across from Bear Hollow. Swaner Director of Conservation Rhea Cone said the organization doesn’t use the barn.
“This is a historic barn that was not used and owned by the Swaner family, but the Wallin family, and was built in the first kind of quarter of the 1900s. There's also a little stone house on the property,” she said. “It's a really perfect space.”
Cone said Swaner often receives calls about injured animals, so partnering with the conservation center was a good opportunity.
“Folks would drop off animals at Swaner,” she said. “It's not something that we do as an organization, and so I'm really excited that we can get wildlife that's injured some help closer to home, and so they can be re-released and be back in our vibrant ecosystem.”
Wasatch Wildlife Conservation Center Founder and CEO Jody Giddings said the work to open the raptor enclosure has already begun. The nonprofit has raised $13,000 — $500 more than its goal — to fund the project. Giddings's team has also cleaned out the barn.
“We had four hours scheduled, and we got it all done in about two so that was wonderful. A bunch of volunteers from Swaner and from the public, so it was great,” Giddings said.
Mountain Stone, Giddings said, donated material for the floor. The mixture of pea gravel and sand will be delivered soon and once it’s in place, construction can begin.
The raptor enclosure is expected to be up and running in mid-January.
Giddings said the conservation center eventually wants to find a permanent, standalone facility to host its clinic and enclosures.
