ENTERS A NEW ERA
BY EXPANDING ITS MISSION AND GOALS.
Welcome To The New Interpretive Center For The
Chattahoochee River.
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DISCOVERY CENTER & PAVILION
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The Chattahoochee Nature Center, a private, non-profit facility strategically located midway on the Chattahoochee River, is evolving and expanding to meet the growing and changing needs of the region. The important, necessary and timely story of water conservation will be brought to life in the new Discovery Center. Once known solely as an educational facility for children, the Chattahoochee Nature Center is blazing new trails and expanding its mission.
By doing so, the Chattahoochee Nature Center is morphing into The Interpretive Center for the Chattahoochee River. The goals of the new Discovery Center include promoting connections between the environment and community issues related to the health of the Chattahoochee River, inviting participation by providing a place where visitors can hear and feel the natural world, encouraging conservation efforts and the preservation of the natural world for present and future generations, heightening community awareness of the relationship between a high-quality environment and a high-quality lifestyle, and inspiring change in visitors by endorsing environmental actions that advance a sustainable future.
The Chattahoochee River provides a non-renewable water source supplying 60% of our drinking water for Georgia’s population. It is critical to the continued success and prosperity of the region. Senator Johnny Isakson, honorary chairman of the nature center’s capital campaign states, “The Chattahoochee Nature Center is collaborating to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the dependence of local populations upon the Chattahoochee River for their sustenance and growth, and the importance of personal stewardship of the river for future generations. If we want to enjoy the way of life that exists today in metro Atlanta, we must tell this story of water conservation to the city’s growing population. Thankfully, the Chattahoochee Nature Center exists to tell that story and to teach citizens how to sustain, conserve, and support the Chattahoochee River and its watershed.”
The Chattahoochee Nature Center has collaborated with the Trust for Public Land and similar organizations. Serving as a portal of information, the new Discovery Center will direct visitors toward organizations that work to protect the river. “If you want to report a spill, start a watershed or find out where you can put your boat in the river, our exhibits will point you to the key organizations who can answer your questions. There has been a long-standing need for this centralized place of information, education and exploration,” explains executive director, Ann Bergstrom.
In order to learn how to protect our watershed, a 10,000 sq. ft. exhibit hall and museum will be constructed. The new, state-of-the-art Discovery Center will break ground in February of 2008, with an estimated completion date of April of 2009. Local architectural firm, Lord, Aeck & Sargent, has designed the two-level LEED-certified Discovery Center. Local landscaping company, EDAW, has been signed for site improvements and general landscaping beauty. Exhibit design firm, AldrichPears Associates from British Columbia, is designing the interior space. The Discovery Center will showcase hands-on exhibits depicting three separate areas of our watershed (river, wetland and forest) and a 65-person theater. The small, existing Discovery Center will be converted into an open-air pavilion located on Kingfisher Pond that can host special programs ands events. The Discovery Center will also be home to a new series of programs and events geared towards adults who want to learn more about our local environment, and the impact the Chattahoochee River has on it.
Early in the campaign, the Nature Center received tremendous support from its Board of Directors with 100% participation and three lead gifts of $1 million each from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Kendeda Fund and the Chattahoochee Greenway Fund. In June, 2007, The Kresge Foundation endorsed our efforts with a $500,000 Challenge Grant! Including this generous challenge gift, the Center has raised more than $7 million toward the $9 million campaign goal. In order to claim the Kresge Challenge, we must raise the balance remaining to meet our overall goal, or approximately $1,900,000. “As we enter the last phase of fundraising, it is very gratifying to receive this endorsement from The Kresge Foundation”, states Christopher Glenn Sawyer, capital campaign chairperson. “This grant represents confirmation on a national level of the excellent work and vision of the Chattahoochee Nature Center. I am confident that their generous challenge grant will inspire others to step forward and join us in this vital work.”
“It’s an exciting time to be involved with the Chattahoochee Nature Center. Great changes and exciting visions are about to come to fruition,” stated Jose Creamer, chairman of the Chattahoochee Nature Center Board of Directors. “Atlanta and the entire region are about to be presented with a wonderful new resource for learning.”