An artist’s rendering of Tekαkαpimək Contact Station on Lookout Mountain in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Image courtesy of Saunders Architecture and Mir

The opening of a welcome center at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument has been delayed while contractors and others put finishing touches on displays and other features.

Tekαkαpimək Contact Station, which had planned to open in late August, is now expected to open fully in the fall. But visitors can get a first glimpse inside this weekend.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland joined federal, state, Wabanaki and other community members for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning at Tekαkαpimək Contact Station in Stacyville, north of Millinocket.

Members of the public can stop by after that from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Visitors this weekend must register in advance through the Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters website.

Nestled in the woods on a hill near Baxter State Park, the welcome center is imbued with Wabanaki artistry, history and cultural information that is designed to give visitors a deeply meaningful introduction to the monument.

The center is nearly completed, except for a punch list of items that must be finished before ownership is transferred from the friends group to the National Park Service. The federal agency will operate Tekαkαpimək, pronounced “de gah-gah bee mook,” which means “as far as one can see” in the Penobscot language.

“We’re excited to see how visitors interact with the building and learn from that,” said Brian Hinrichs, executive director of the friends group, which will remain a philanthropic partner in the center.

“This project has been over five years in the making,” Hinrichs continued. “There is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all the partners and supporters who brought us here.”

The welcome center was designed in consultation with the Wabanaki, or “People of the First Light.” In addition to the Penobscot Nation, whose ancestral lands include the national monument established in 2016, the Wabanaki include Maliseet, Mi’kmaq and Passamaquoddy tribes that have lived in the region for millennia.

The center is 99% complete, Hinrichs said, but several items remain unfinished, including audio visual displays and a tile floor depicting the Penobscot River that must be sealed.

“The hope is that it will be open to the public by fall,” he said. A fundraising page for the center says the expected public opening date is “in fall 2024 or spring 2025.”

Visiting the center will be free of charge. Information about the public opening will be shared online by the friends group and the National Park Service. In the meantime, the property will remain posted as a construction site, Hinrichs said.

Also managed by the park service, the 87,000-acre Woods and Waters monument was donated to the United States by Roxanne Quimby, who founded Burt’s Bees and made a fortune when she sold it. It includes a 17-mile loop road, trails for hiking, mountain biking and snowmobiling, and paddling access along the Penobscot River’s East Branch.

The privately funded contact station is the focus of a $35 million fundraising campaign that received $10 million from the Quimby family and foundations, and $1 million from the National Park Foundation.

The campaign still has to raise about $5 million to complete the project, which includes sustainable off-grid heating and cooling systems, accessible paths and access routes, and interpretive exhibits and artwork reflecting Wabanaki culture.