Local News :: Saturday, June 23, 2007

by PAUL RAYNER

A reversal of a previous Council decision has a local entrepreneur concerned and considering a powerful response.

Irvin Goodon, owner and proprietor of the Irvin Goodon International Wildlife Museum, is upset that Town of Boissevain Council decided to re-open the south entrance to #10 Highway leading to the area where his museum is located. The area is also the home of Tommy Turtle and the Visitor Information Centre, on the south end of Boissevain.

“It was closed at one time,” Goodon stated, “but they made the decision to open it again, which really concerns me.”

Earlier this spring, Council decided to close the entranceway, but this week changed its position. Council decided to make the switch because they felt too many vehicles were getting trapped at the barricade when on their way out of the parking lot.

Goodon’s concerns are based on the safety issue, as he feels the entranceway is a danger to those visiting his museum and other attractions in the area.

“We’re having a lot of tours into the museum, all kinds of tours move through here. They are slow moving and when the traffic is coming through like that, it creates a safety problem.”

Goodon said there are a record number of children coming through the area now, and other tours include seniors or people with handicaps. It is not a question of something happening. It is not if, it is when.”

He said it is not a question of closing a road either. It is not a road, but a passageway to a parking lot. One of the possible ideas brought forward when the original decision was made was to build a park in the area, something Goodon agreed with.

“It was a good plan,” he stated, “it would be a good place for it.”

Goodon added he was planning to put a stage into the museum, to hold a variety of events. He said there is not another stage like that in the area and it would be a boon to the community to have a venue of that type. With the entranceway re-opened, these plans are on hold.

In fact, Goodon said he is looking at going as far as closing the International Wildlife Museum.

“The museum is very close to me,” he stated. “It was for the people to enjoy and to draw people to Boissevain. We’re getting more and more people. But I don’t want it to be the cause of people getting hurt, to put people’s lives in danger.”

Originally planning a sit-in protest, Goodon decided against it, wanting to move in a more peaceful direction. He wants to work on the situation quickly, and have it resolved quickly.

“I want to make my concerns known,” he said. “It is not a road, it’s a passageway to a parking lot that the Council had already voted to close. Someone is going to get hurt, there is no doubt about it.”