Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) offices and the cathedral-like building has a roof shape resembling overlapping gum leaves lying gently on the forest floor. The building was funded with a $1.5m grant from the Federal Government and another $200k being contributed from the State. The ongoing operating costs for teaching staff and building maintenance were to be met by DCNR. Forest Education Programs In the early years of the operations of the TFDC, qualified sessional teachers were recruited to run the education programs and it proved a huge success with between 10,000 and 12,000 students each year and many repeat visitors. A highlight in 1996 was the International Sculpture Festival and the establishment of a trail leading from the centre through the bush. But sudden departmental funding cuts at the end of 1998 caused the closure of the main TFDC building, although the education programs continued to operate from an adjacent tin shed (AKA the Discovery Tree) under a three-year contract with the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE. At the conclusion of the TAFE arrangement, the forest education programs came back under the department's umbrella using up to 10–12 sessional teachers. During this period, the main TDFC building was sometimes open on weekends and public holidays, depending on available funding. In 2003, the Natural Resources Conservation League (NRCL) closed its nursery in Springvale and needed a new home. It leased space at Toolangi, but in 2007 moved to the Waterwheel Centre in Warburton. Some forest education programs continued until June 2012, when the department announced that forest education was no longer “core business”. By the beginning of 2013 one of Australia's oldest registered environmental charities, the Gould League, had also been trained to run existing programs at the Discovery Tree, which continue to this day. Closure In about 2000 the proprietors of the Toolangi General Store approached the department to convert part of the main building into a coffee shop, the Crosscut Kiosk. The existing staff tearoom was extended and some of the displays were removed to make space for tables. However, the proposal did not ultimately succeed, and the Toolangi Tavern was built instead, next to the site of the general store. There had been grave fears for the wooden building during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires when part of the adjoining departmental offices and State forest were destroyed. Between 2015 and 2018 there were several unsuccessful efforts by