The new 5,000-square-foot building that houses the visitor center on the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge grounds looks like an updated (and oversized) version of the farm buildings that might have been seen in the region at the time of Theodore Roosevelt’s historic hunting visit, with board-and-batten siding and, of course, a metal roof. In total, 12,000 square feet of PAC-150 180° seam panels were used on the project—the availability of the Weathered Steel finish was a big selling point for the selection.
The idea for a visitor center bearing Roosevelt’s name began soon after the Refuge was created in 2004. The seven properties in the complex were lacking some kind of gateway, and officials also wanted to promote efforts to conserve and manage the total of more than 230,000 acres of federal and state-owned public lands within the Mississippi Delta. In addition, local preservationists hoped to highlight the story of the locally famous bear hunt that led to the creation of the classic teddy bear.
