Heery Woods Nature Center plans for expansion

The Butler County Conservation Board and Friends of Heery Woods Nature Center would like to announce plans for the Expansion of Heery Woods Nature Center. Located on the south side of Heery Woods State Park, Heery Woods Nature Center was completed in 1989 and was designed to serve as part of the Environmental Education and Outdoor Recreation Program of the Butler County Conservation Board. In addition to a place to provide programs, the exhibit area at Heery Woods Nature Center was to serve as a natural resource-based tourist attraction for Butler County.
     The original design of the Nature Center included an office for the Naturalist, a small meeting room, restrooms, exhibit area, a work room with access to live animal displays, and a small storage and utility room. Programs at the Nature Center quickly became popular with both schools and the public. During the first five years, staff presented 635 programs for more than 18,000 participants, and more than 9,000 visitors interacted with the Nature Center’s exhibits. 
     Now, 30 years after opening, Conservation Board Staff has provided more than 5,230 programs to nearly 160,000 participants. Program audiences have included school groups from Aplington-Parkersburg, Clarksville, Dike-New Hartford, Hampton-Dumont, Nashua-Plainfield, North Butler, and Waverly-Shell Rock as well as several home school groups. Other program audiences have included Butler County youth and special interest groups, service organizations, care centers, assisted living centers, senior citizen groups, professional groups, and local and state colleges and universities. Conservation Board Staff has also provided many programs on a variety of topics to the general public. Heery Woods Nature Center has done well serving as a natural resource-based tourist attraction. Since opening, more than 58,000 visitors have interacted with the exhibits in our Discovery Room, and while many of the visitors have been local, many others have come from other parts of the state and even outside of Iowa. Visitors from outside Iowa have come from thirty-three different states and seventeen countries!
Today, the Butler County Conservation Board is looking to build on the successes of the Environmental Education and Outdoor Recreation programs presented through Heery Woods Nature Center and continue to provide visitors with opportunities to learn about the natural world through interactive exhibits. To provide new program and exhibit opportunities, the Butler County Conservation Board and Friends of Heery Woods Nature Center are working together to expand the Nature Center and its exhibits. The expansion project includes the addition of a new 32’x40’ classroom and a 20’x36’ exhibit area.
 
Read more in the June 13 edition of the STAR.
 
 
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