When you think of Antelope Island you may conjure images of the Great Salt Lake unfolding in front of you or herds of wild bison quietly grazing on the dry shore. The visitor center might not be top of mind, but that may soon change.
Antelope Island State Park is set to unveil a new-state-of-the-art visitor center that doubles as an interactive learning center.
“Yeah, this was actually an expansion of our visitor center,” said Doranne Pittx, director of Antelope Island. “Phase one was just over 5,000 square feet, we're now over 15,000 square feet.”
She said the initial visitor center was more of a pit stop for visitors on their way through the park. In contrast, the new visitor center will be a destination and a space to continue learning.
“What this one does that the old couldn't do is bring more school groups in,” Pittz said. “Now, with this larger space, we actually have dedicated classrooms, we have a full education wing, and truly, it is a visitor and learning center.”
Pittz said when you enter the building, it's almost like opening the doors to the Jurassic Park Visitor Center.
“As you're walking, different bird sounds actually start to call,” she said. “Along the way, you get to see beautiful images of the island, as well as reading and touching. Everything is tactile and visual and audible as well.”
The center doesn’t just focus on one chapter of the island’s history, working instead to tell the story beginning in prehistoric times.
It weaves in Indigenous history, ecological changes, ranching, and modern day conservation efforts.
“There are so many stories for Antelope Island to tell,” Pittz said. “So, as you walk through this facility everything was super intentional, we have an entire lake section, and the lake section talks about the brine shrimp and he salinity and then it switches into geology. Antelope Island has some of the most unique geology in the state. We then have our mammal section, we have our Native American section, we have a dark sky section.”
The visitor center boasts a cutting-edge movie theater that will show a regional film made for Antelope Island.
“We have a giant screen theater, it's a large-format theater,” Pittz said. “We are currently showing Secrets of Great Salt Lake, and that is a 3D experience. It's full Dolby sound with 3D glasses, the water's coming at you, birds are flying towards you and near you.
Pittz said even the architecture of the building itself was intentionally designed.
“It's very architecturally beautiful and unique. It fits right into the look and the feel of the island,” she explained. “It was also designed on the equinox, and so it was actually lined up with the solstices, it is truly just it's a beautiful building with big, you know, wooden beams to kind of an industrial feel, but it still feels very natural, open, and airy."
The new Antelope Island Visitor and Learning center will be a destination in and of itself. Pittz said schools and other groups can reserve one of the many classrooms or office spaces on the state park website.
