Owners of Telegraph Cove Resort say they plan to rebuild and reopen for visitors this summer after a New Year’s Eve fire destroyed the village’s historic boardwalk, whale museum, restaurants and whale watching office.
“They want to open Telegraph Cove for the summer. Obviously, there’ll be repairs and rebuilding going on for the end of the dock and the interpretive centre, but they’re thinking they’d be able to set up some temporary type stuff to take care of the tourists,” said Dave Summers, Regional District of Mount Waddington director for the area, after meeting with owners Gordie and Marilyn Graham as well as directors of the Whale Interpretive Centre.
An early morning fire on Tuesday reduced to ashes the interpretive centre, Old Saltery Pub, Killer Whale Café, Wastell Manor heritage house, Prince of Whales offices and staff housing, and a portion of the boardwalk.
The interpretive centre lost its collection of hanging marine mammal skeletons — the largest in western sa国际传媒 — which included a resident killer whale, Bigg’s killer whale, humpback whale, minke whale, grey whale, a 20-metre fin whale and a rare Cuvier’s beaked whale, which lives in deep sa国际传媒 waters.
Insurance money likely won’t be enough to cover the entire rebuild and Summers said the regional district will help in whatever way it can to raise money from various levels of governments to support the cove’s recovery.
“I think we’ll have a major role to play in pushing to get the permitting done quickly for the rebuild. Because they don’t want to be waiting for a year, two years, to get permits to start doing stuff,” he said.
The resort began as a campground and marina when long-time northern Vancouver Island residents Gordie and Marilyn Graham took ownership in 1979 and became a “cornerstone” of the small community on the Island’s northeast coast.
Gordie Graham milled the logs and built the resort himself using mostly yellow cedar, including the building that housed the whale museum, which was provided rent-free, Summers said.
Summers hopes to approach local forestry companies to explore the possibility of donated yellow cedar to support the rebuild.
The marina and pilings were unaffected by the fire, so whale watching, grizzly and kayak tours should be able to go ahead this summer, he said.
“The fire has presented Telegraph Cove Resorts with a challenge of a magnitude that is hard to comprehend. We don’t yet know what the road to recovery will look like, but our plan is to immediately begin repairs,” says an online for the recovery efforts.
