Bird Sanctuary Breaks Ground

Volunteers and supporters gathered at the Open Door Bird Sanctuary in Jacksonport on May 23 to break ground for what will be the sanctuary’s new bird care center. Photo by Len Villano.

“We could not have asked for a more beautiful spring day for our groundbreaking ceremony…That’s a great sign for things to come here,” said Rob Hults, co-founder and executive director of the Open Door Bird Sanctuary in Jacksonport as volunteers and supporters gathered on May 23 for a groundbreaking for the sanctuary’s bird care center.

“This is a big day,” Hults said. “Jillaine (Burton, co-founder) and I came up with the concept for this organization and this sanctuary almost five years ago now. We’ve had some amazing watershed moments, from finding this amazing piece of land where the sanctuary is now, and relocating to this area so we can really become part of the community, to getting all of the infrastructure started that we have here.”

Hults said the community readily embraced the idea of a bird sanctuary in Door County.

“What we’re selling is our message,” he said, “our mission to take care of these birds of prey that wouldn’t be able to survive in the world.”

While recognizing all the volunteers who have helped to get the piece of property in shape, Hults said the building of the bird care center “wouldn’t be possible without the amazing generosity of the Burton (Paul and Frances) family. They have been amazing supporters of ours since its inception.”

Also at the groundbreaking, co-founder Jillaine Burton (no relation to Paul and Frances Burton) announced that she and her partner, Andy Seefeldt had purchased Woodwalk Gallery from founders Allin Walker and Margaret Lockwood.

“They are so excited that we’re excited. They see us as a good fit, so they are working really hard to make us successful,” Burton said. “They are running the business this season through the end of October, but we can come and learn and slowly get everything in place and we’ll be ready to run next season.”

She added that they love Woodwalk the way it is.

“Yes, we’d like to make a few changes,” she said. “We’re maybe going to expand the rentals more. But we don’t want to change what is successful. We decided this was something we really wanted to do. It’s a life change but it’s not a consciousness change. Andy and I are both creative people. It’s still a business and we both have business acumen. This is kind of retirement in concept, but we need to earn a living to support both of us and the baggage that we carry. We’ve put everything we have into it. It’s not a small deal. We’re not independently wealthy.”