The sounds of a buzzing saw and clanging hammers filled the air yesterday at Witty's Lagoon in Metchosin as a group of volunteers neared completion of a new open-air classroom.
The Witty's Lagoon teaching shelter will provide a covered area inside the park for school and community groups to help foster environmental stewardship, particularly among youth.
"We all recognize that if you can ignite some passion in kids while they're younger and open their eyes to what's really special about nature, that interest and desire to protect stays with them for life," said Jaya Polden.
Polden is one of five people spearheading the shelter project as part of the Leadership Victoria course, a program for aspiring community leaders.
The course, which runs from September to June, had 22 participants this year split into four teams and each team chose a project that would address different needs in the community.
Polden's team wanted to focus on youth and the environment, and leave a lasting legacy.
"We liked the idea of a bricks-and-mortar project," she said.
When completed, the shelter will have seating for about 50 students and will be managed by the Capital Regional District's parks department.
The shelter will provide much-needed space for the CRD, environmental groups and local schools to lead educational programs all year long, said team member Kate Longpre.
"There isn't enough of these places," she said. "It's going to help out so much."
Building the shelter has, quite literally, become a labour of love for this team.
Instead of hiring a construction crew to do the physical work, the team members and various relatives have spent the last several weekends hammering nails under the direction of Dave Ward. The Saanich fire chief volunteered his time to be crew boss.
"We had no idea what we were doing," joked team member Dan Mackinnon, adding none of the team members had prior construction experience.
Although the team members didn't anticipate building the shelter, Longpre said it has allowed them each to watch the project unfold from its initial stage to its completion.
In keeping with the environmental stewardship focus of the project, team member Aaron Slingsby explained the lumber used to build the A-frame shelter came from fallen logs in CRD parks. Even the weather treatment stain applied to the wood is non-toxic and produced locally.
The team raised about $70,000 through cash and in-kind gifts to build the shelter.
It will be unveiled by the CRD on July 18.
