Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will lease 39 acres at Pioneer Park in Tumwater for a state-run salmon hatchery that’s been more than 15 years in the works.

With the $1-a-year lease, the department now has the property to build and operate the Deschutes Watershed Center. The proposed hatchery will raise and release Chinook salmon — nearly 4 million fish each year — into the Deschutes River.

When completed, the hatchery is expected to improve the salmon run on the river as well as recreational fishing in the region.

The project includes an “education center” that will be maintained separately by Tumwater along with a multimillion-dollar renovation of the fish hatchery upstream at Tumwater Falls Park.

At a special meeting Tuesday, the Tumwater City Council approved the lease and an operational agreement for the project. Parks director Chuck Denney said the development could generate extra income and tourism for the city.

The city-run education facility is expected to be a single room that would host classes on environmental activities and local history, for example, while also being available to rent by private parties.

Denney anticipates that construction could begin this fall on a parking lot in order to demonstrate to legislators that the entire project is ready to go.

“This is an opportunity to create a hub of activity,” Denney told the city council Tuesday before approval of the lease and operational agreement. “The building will be an attractive place to rent.”

An advisory committee of two Tumwater council members, two fish and wildlife representatives and one Squaxin Tribe member will develop a plan for the education building’s design and operation. According to the contract, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for all construction of the education building, which will then be leased to Tumwater.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife still needs to procure enough funding from the Legislature before construction can start.

The department will request $22 million during the next legislative session, said Tim Burns, assistant director for the capital program. The total cost is estimated at $37 million, which includes costs across the project’s lifetime.

The Pioneer Park hatchery is in the design phase, but the construction timeline depends on whether the state money comes through.

“We anticipate starting construction in late summer of 2017,” said Burns, noting that the project could take up to two years to finish.

Money is available from the state capital budget for renovations at the Tumwater Falls Park hatchery. In the 2013, the project received $7.3 million in funding, with another $5 million coming in 2015.

Burns said construction at Tumwater Falls will begin in 2017 after an agreement is reached with the Olympia Tumwater Foundation, which runs the park.