By Quinn O’Hara

Photo by Quinn O’Hara

The construction of the new Clay Center Zoo Welcome Center has recently begun.

Construction crews broke ground on the project during the last week of March, and began pouring the concrete pad on the morning of April 4. Scott Glaves, the Superintendent of Utilities for the Clay Center Public Utilities Commission, said the walls on the building are next on the list.

The Welcome Center has been a long time coming, Glaves said.

Glaves is hoping to have the outside of the building and the attached restrooms finished sometime this summer but does not have a solid deadline for completion. He said because the Public Utilities’ workers are doing most of the construction, their electricity generation schedule will determine the speed at which the project will be completed.