OLYMPIA…Senators Mike Hewitt and Jerome Delvin announced today that there is $2 million in the 2005-07 state capital budget for the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center.

The new visitor and heritage center, located on 50 acres at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers in Richland, will be the gateway to the Hanford Reach National Monument. Using education and interpretation, it will help citizens and visitors learn about the geologic, natural and cultural history of the Hanford Reach and the larger Columbia Basin from the Ice-Age through the Atomic Age.

“This unique and wonderful project will be a treasure for years to come, not only to the people of the Tri-Cities area, but also to the people who will come and visit from around the world,” said Hewitt, R-Walla Walla. “There is no where else in the world like the Hanford Reach, and this gives us a way to celebrate this jewel that is uniquely ours.”

“We are emphasizing investments in the Tri-Cities that are going to have an enormous impact on our economy in the future, said Delvin, R-Richland. He said the budget also includes money to refurbish Tri-Cities Stadium, funding to begin transforming WSU-Tri-Cities into a four year campus and a substantial grant and loan program to jump start the biofuels industry.

“We can expect upwards of 100,000 tourists to visit the Reach each year to learn about its remarkable history and beauty,” he said.

The $2 million in state funds will be used to pay for an ice age floods exhibit. The federal government has committed $5.78 million to the Interpretive Center since the Reach was designated a national monument in 2000, including $2.25 million in this year’s federal budget. Additional funds are being secured through private donations.

The Reach will also be home to offices of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tri-City Visitor and Convention Bureau, and Washington State Parks, and will include a state of the art exhibit hall.

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Contacts: Rebecca Japhet/(360) 786-7516, japhet.rebecca@leg.wa.gov or

Tom Henry/(360) 786-7519, henry.tom@leg.wa.gov