RAPID CITY - Duane Pankratz had two problems.

First, his new convenience store near Interstate 90's Exit 61 had a lot of extra space. A fast-food restaurant had planned to set up in the south 2,500 square feet of the building, but the deal fell through.

Second, Pankratz owns a number of taxidermy pieces - African lions, elk, deer, even an alligator - that were stashed away in storage. An avid big-game hunter, Pankratz had amassed a large collection of trophy animals bagged by him and his family over the years.

"The taxidermists complained that I wasn't getting their work out there where they could be seen," he said.

His solution: Call of the Wild, a museum inside La Grand Station convenience store. It's free and open to the public. Ken Nash, who runs the museum, said he will give talks and tours to school children and other groups who want to see the museum. To schedule a visit, call 645-0068.

Displays include an African lion downing a running zebra, a mountain lion attacking a deer and a number of smaller animals, birds, mounted heads and other wildlife displays. There are 63 pieces on display. Two elephants will be added soon, he said.

Pankratz, a veterinarian from Freeman, was the successful founder of Grand Laboratories, a firm that developed and sold animal vaccines and other products. In recent years, he's been active in Keystone tourism. He and his family operate the Borglum Historical Center and three motels.

He also owns a large piece of land, about 400 acres, along Elk Vale Road south of I-90. It stretches south from La Grand Station. The convenience store is the first of several developments he hopes to launch in the area.

Pankratz believes the wildlife museum will help draw visitors to La Grand Station, especially with plans for a Cabela's store across the interstate.

Cabela's, the giant hunting, fishing and camping retailer, decorates its stores with elaborate wildlife displays. When the new store opens, a lot of outdoors-minded visitors will be getting off I-90 at Exit 61.

In fact, Pankratz tried to lure Cabela's developers to his 400-acre site across south of the interstate. However, the retailer opted to anchor its own commercial project north of the interstate.

Another feature of La Grand Station is a visitor information center, a desk at the entrance to the museum. It has brochures, maps and other information. Also, a staffer will be on hand to answer questions and give directions.

La Grand Station's visitor information center raised some eyebrows among Rapid City motel and hotel operators this summer. Keystone and Rapid City are longtime rivals in the lodging business, and there were fears that La Grand's visitor information would be geared toward sending tourists past Rapid City and straight to Keystone.

Exit 61 has been a sore subject for a number of hotels and motels in Rapid City. It leads to the new Southeast Connector, a shortcut to Mount Rushmore National Memorial that bypasses Rapid City altogether.

Last year, a number of hoteliers complained that Department of Transportation directional signs did not clearly tell westbound visitors that both Exit 61 and Exit 57, the Rapid City exit, would take them to Mount Rushmore.

Adding fuel to the fire, a number of Keystone businesses posted billboards on I-90 directing Rushmore-bound tourists to take Exit 61.

But Pankratz said his reason for Call of the Wild and the visitor information booth is not to push more tourists straight to Keystone.

He believes the area along Exit 61 will develop quickly in coming years, and he owns a big piece of that corridor.

"I'm more interested in getting people to stop here," he said. "I have 400 acres that I have to develop in town here."

Bill Honerkamp, president of the Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association, said clamor about Exit 61 has died down since last year. The state Department of Transportation has made changes to its highway signs, and that allayed a lot of local fears.

"And who can fault Duane for trying to direct traffic to Keystone? He has a lot of properties up there," Honerkamp added.

BHB&L's own Visitor Information Center is just north of Exit 61. All summer, the center's fate was uncertain. It is located on 30 acres of city land, and the Rapid City Council agreed to donate the land to Cabela's.

Under the agreement, the Visitor Information Center would have been moved into Cabela's. More recently, however, Cabela's agreed to leave the Visitor Information Center where it was.

In the midst of the VIC debate, Honerkamp said, the BHB&L looked seriously at moving the massive building across the interstate to a site near La Grand Station. "It turned out to be too pricey to move," Honerkamp said.

Besides, Honerkamp agrees with Pankratz that the Elk Vale Road area is going to become a major tourist stop in its own right. He's been hearing rumors that as many as five hotels south of I-90 and two north of the interstate are in the planning stages. Honerkamp also has heard reports that four restaurants and a large conference center could be built at Exit 61.

"I think we're looking at what will become the new La Crosse Street type of complex," he said. La Crosse Street, Exit 59, is lined with motels, hotels and restaurants.

However, during a tour of Call of the Wild last week, Pankratz was clearly more interested in talking about the wildlife displays inside the facility. In a way, he said, the museum will educate the public about the natural world and the lives of the animals on display.

"There is a life to these animals, and I think it's better that they are preserved," he said.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com