Sitka's Fortress of the Bear is raising funds for a visitor center slated to open in 2019.
Plans call for an expanded bear-viewing deck, additional viewing windows and gift shop improvements. The work is part of wider facility updates that will be introduced when Fortress of the Bear, now closed for the winter, reopens to the public in May.
Fortress of the Bear cares for orphaned and rescued coastal brown bears with the goal of releasing the animals back into the wild. Since the nonprofit center opened in 2007, it has welcomed more than 20,000 independent travelers and cruise guests a year.