U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt grabbed the gold-painted shovel with two hands, plunged it into the soft dirt next to one of the fish ponds, and then smiled for the cameras.
Blunt wasn’t the only person smiling big who attended the groundbreaking for the long-anticipated $3.75 million Neosho National Fish Hatchery Visitors Center Wednesday morning under clear blue skies.
Blunt was one of 30 state and local elected representatives, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials, hatchery staff, members of the Friends group, and other dignitaries who lined up with shovels to dig into the ceremonial dirt.
Ivan Crossland Jr., CEO of Crossland Construction, and Elaine DeGroot, contracting officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, signed the papers to officially award the bid for construction of the visitors center. Crossland officials said construction will begin this month, and could be completed as early as in 10 months.
U.S. Sen. Kit Bond and Blunt, who worked together to secure the initial $1 million in planning funds, were critical to the start of the project, and Blunt served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony.
“When completed, the Neosho National Fish Hatchery Visitors Center, coupled with the visitors center at the George Washington Carver National Monument completed two years ago and only 15 minutes away, gives Newton County a double reason to expect more visitors and economic incentives,” Blunt said. “So many people have worked so hard to make this happen. The Friends of the Neosho National Fish Hatchery group has worked so hard to see this happen. Dave Hendrix (hatchery manager), you can’t say enough about this man. He has this glow, this aura about him, and he loves what he does and the people he works with and for.”
Hendrix definitely had a glow about him Wednesday, as he served as emcee for the groundbreaking ceremony and thanked community member after community member who contributed to the success of the hatchery, and the efforts to make the hatchery’s new visitors center a reality.
The Neosho National Fish Hatchery currently has only 400 square feet to accommodate the 40,000 people who visit annually. The solar-powered, energy-efficient new Neosho National Fish Hatchery Visitors Center will have an increased seating capacity for up to 100,000 visitors a year, and enhanced educational resources.
“I am here today to tell you that we are all about serving you,” Hendrix told the crowd. “This (visitors center) is going to allow us to enhance what we can provide to our community, our state and our nation. It is all about teamwork, and everyone working together to make this (visitors center) happen.”
Mayor Jeff Werneke said the hatchery would not be successful without its talented staff, led by Hendrix.
“I am proud that the hatchery is in my hometown,” Werneke said. “You could do an hour and a half, two hours, to say everything that needs to be said about Dave Hendrix. He is a true citizen of this town, and this area, and he cares about what he does. He is committed to his job, his community, and to his family.”
Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, attended the ceremony and talked about the need for today’s youth to reconnect with nature, and the hatchery and its visitors center can help do that.
“What you are seeing right now is kids moving away from nature, and we need to bring them back,” Gould said. “If they don’t care about what we do at the hatchery, and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we are wasting our time. This is really a great day.”
Gould said the community support for the Neosho hatchery is “exceptional.”
“The community support here is the germ for a larger movement in the United States for other support groups, and supporting our other facilities,” Gould said. “It is an example of using this hatchery as an economic tool for the community. To have a hatchery in the middle of a community is pretty rare, and to have this many folks embrace it is amazing.”
Harry Rogers, president of the Neosho National Fish Hatchery Friends group, said Wednesday morning was a “great morning for the Friends group.” Rogers told the crowd of how the Friends group evolved at a time when there were discussions in the federal government of closing the hatchery in Neosho in the 1980s.
“There were problems years ago with the federal budget, and a lot of the community members knew if they didn’t express how important the hatchery was to the community, who was going to know. We have seen how important that is recently. We have to stand on our own as a community and an area to bring about public support on how important these type of activities are to the community. We have tons of volunteers with the Friends group, and we want more. We want everyone to be a member. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Terry Neff and Teresa VanWinkle, who really carried the water for the (visitors center) project.”
Rogers said the support from the Friends group, the city of Neosho, and the Missouri Department of Transportation on installing signage on nearby roads and highways had been critical to bringing visitors to the hatchery.
“One of the major contributors was the city of Neosho, because they stepped up when we thought all was lost,” Rogers said. “So, thank you Mayor (Jeff) Werneke, city manager Jan Blase, and then-Mayor Howard Birdsong for recognizing that need because it was important not just for the hatchery, but also for the community.”
Blase said the hatchery’s visitors center groundbreaking was satisfying because it took combined efforts from various city, state and federal governments to make it happen.
“(The visitors center) is going to be great for the downtown, and it is going to be great for the Neosho community,” Blase said. “It is one of the things Neosho is doing to create a community that people find desirable, that they want to stay in, want to move to, and want to raise their families in.”
Norm Hines, who served as manager at the Neosho hatchery from 1975 to 1990, said he went through five years during that time without a budget for hatchery operations.
“And that was the pits,” Hines said with a laugh. “We couldn’t advance in anything, and we just survived. Then, I was fired and I had 30 days left. I immediately called Kay (Hively) and she called Congressman Gene Taylor, and in a week or so they let me come back to work. I give Kay (Hively) all the credit, and Gene Taylor was our savior at that time.
“It is great to be here today. We almost had a visitors center built back close to 1990. I know what Dave (Hendrix) and his staff have been going through, and all the work it takes to pull off a project like this. This is a proud moment, and I am very happy.”
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NEOSHO NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY FACTS
• Founded in 1888, Neosho is the oldest operating National Fish Hatchery in the United States.
• Raises and stocks endangered Pallid sturgeon for recovery in the Lower Missouri River, Mo.
• Provides recovery efforts for threatened and endangered native mussels.
• Raises and provides restoration efforts for native Lake sturgeon.
• Provides restoration efforts for native Paddlefish
• Provides rainbow trout for native fish loss caused by dams in the White River, Mo.
• Provides protection for the blind and threatened Ozark cavefish.
AMENITIES AND BENEFITS OF VISITORS CENTER
• 9,500 square-foot, 2-level facility.
• History of the Hatchery Exhibit Hall.
• Friends of the Neosho NFH Bookstore.
• Classroom / wet lab and aquariums.
• Auditorium, library and office space.
• Increase visitor capacity to more than 100,000 per year.
• Enhance environmental education and interpretation opportunities.
• Generate economic benefits through tourism for Newton County and surrounding areas.
• Put kids, adults back in touch with nature through aquatic resource education.
