A $19 million Flinders Chase National Park Visitor Centre has opened after its predecessor was destroyed in the 2019/20 bushfire.

^{Flinders Chase National Park Visitor Centre has officially opened. Photo: supplied}

The former Rocky River centre was burned out in the devastating bushfires in which two people died, 87 homes were destroyed and 60,000 livestock lost.

The new $19.5 million facility was built on a previously developed site, closer to the national park’s entrance, and using frames from bushfire-resistant timber.

^{Photo supplied: State Government}

Kangaroo Island’s tourism industry brought in $219 million in the year to March 2024, with more than 100,000 visiting Flinders Chase in 2022-2023.

Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said the area had been “a key drawcard for international visitors”.

“This is a vital piece of tourism infrastructure that will be utilised by international, interstate and South Australian visitors,” she said.

^{The previous Flinders Chase Visitors Centre was destroyed by the 2019/20 Kangaroo Island bushfires. Photo: David Mariuz/AAP}

The centre will be run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The new centre joins a $4.2 million upgrade to the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, a $2.3 million upgrade of Kelly Hill Conservation Park and Kelly Hill Caves, a $2 million boardwalk at Remarkable Rocks, and $950,000 of work at May’s Homestead and Postman’s Cottage.

Words: Isabella Kelly