The Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society is partnering with Simon Fraser University (SFU) to make the Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) a reality.
PODS is envisioned as a state-of-the-art marine and freshwater research and education centre in Irvines Landing.
This Saturday, June 3, the two organizations will officially sign a memorandum of understanding that will see SFU join forces with the Lagoon Society to seek out funding for PODS and perform research at the facility once it’s built.
“It really is a huge thing for Pender Harbour. It’s tremendous,” said Michael Jackson, executive director of the Lagoon Society.
“It gives us a great deal of credibility, that’s for sure, but it also gives us an amazing resource in terms of the students themselves and the professors and research people in both the faculty of environment and the faculty of biology, so that is one huge resource.”
Jackson said having SFU’s help to secure funding for the estimated $10-million project will also be incredibly helpful.
“They have a major development office that helps with fundraising, so that will be a huge help for us as well. So basically it just takes PODS to a whole new level,” Jackson said.
Saturday’s MOU signing will take place at noon at the Iris Griffith Centre. Dignitaries will gather for a short ceremony and then SFU delegates will be taken for tours of the area.
Jackson said they’ll tour Pender by water and also visit the site of the new PODS facility, on which the Lagoon Society recently put a down payment. This week all the subjects on the property were removed. The society now needs to raise $2 million by September to buy the land outright.
Jackson anticipates the money will come together quickly.
“What we’re doing is writing a business plan and it’s a very well thought out business plan that we’ve been working on for the past 18 months,” Jackson said, noting it’s almost finished.
“There are many people waiting in the wings to see that and then I think with SFU and the land and everything going according to plan, I think we’re in a very good position to go after various active, willing donors.”
To find out more about PODS visit www.openpods.com
