Framing Our Future Animal Kitchen

Students from the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School construction program have spent the last two days working in the National Marine Life Center’s new marine animal hospital. The students have been framing the walls around the food prep area, adding insulation, and putting up drywall! Having an enclosed food preparation room in a requirement from NOAA to receive permission to rehabilitate sea turtles and seals in our new facility. Thanks to the students at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School we are one step closer to admitting  our first sea turtle patients into the new hospital building.

The students are using mold resistant sheetrock to enclose the room. After the drywall is completed fiberglass reinforced panels (FRP) will be added to create a waterproof surface that can be cleaned and disinfected. There are strict guidelines in place regarding the preparation of food for protected species of animals undergoing rehabilitation. All food prepared for our patients will be restaurant grade and thanks to the new walls we will be able to keep the food preparation area clean and sanitary!