Conservancy building nature center, labs
May 10, 2011 6:08 PM EDT
COLLIER COUNTY, FL -
After five years and millions of dollars donated, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida celebrated a successful fund raising campaign Tuesday. The organization raised $38.5 million to create a new nature experience and preserve the environment for future generations.
"The money came in every size imaginable," the Conservancy's President and CEO Andrew McElwaine said.
The smallest gift was $10, and nine donations were over $1 million. The money will transform the 21-acre Naples campus with things like laboratories for students.
"A trip here can mean doing experiments just like our biologists do - studying panthers and sea turtles," Education & Discovery Center Manager Troy Frensley said.
The Conservancy is also building a new wildlife rehabilitation clinic, and the endowment will provide funds to add a full-time veterinarian to the staff. Conservancy staffers set a new record, helping 1,000 animals in the last four months.
More than $4 million went toward acquiring land like a gopher tortoise refuge along Goodlette Road. That's also where the new entry-way has been constructed. The bridge leading into the Conservancy's campus curves around gopher tortoise burrows in the area.
The money is also supporting scientific research and preserving the environment with filter marshes. The marshes clean water coming from the Coastland Center Mall before it reaches the Gordon River.
Perhaps the shining star of this renovation is a brand new nature center.
"I believe it will be the premier nature center in the Southeast," McElwaine said.
The facility will be shut down for construction for a few months this year, beginning in June. The Conservancy plans to celebrate a grand re-opening in November 2012.
0 comments:
Post a Comment