NATURE CENTER APPROVED; COMMISSION GIVES NOD TO COUNTY PARK PROJECT

A new approach to conservation education -- a Conservation Campus in Cape Girardeau County North Park -- was authorized Friday by the Missouri Conservation Commission.

Meeting in St. Joseph, the commission gave the go ahead to the $4.7 million project, which includes construction of a 19,000-square-foot nature center.

The commission had tabled the proposal at its September meeting and asked for more details of a planned partnership with Southeast Missouri State University. After reviewing the details, Conservation Commissioner Howard Wood said strong support from the university helped influence the positive vote.

"This will be a cutting-edge project that will be looked at by a lot of people about how to educate, not just with respect to conservation but with respect to a lot of issues," Wood said.

Wood said the plan contains a number of unique educational opportunities, among which is a mobile classroom. "This will take the conservation message into schools throughout Southeast Missouri," he said.

The county has donated land in the park. In preparation for the project, the county purchased an additional 50 acres of park land, including rolling hills and areas suited to hiking trails.

To move the project ahead, the county offered to finance it through a lease-purchase agreement. The county would arrange financing through bonds, and the state would make the payments.

Cape Girardeau County will proceed immediately with issuing the bonds, said Associate Commissioner Max Stovall. The conservation department's architectural staff will make drawings. Stovall hopes a contract can be awarded within a year.

"It's wonderful news for the park and the county," Stovall said. "Of course, we purchased that property with this in mind. Now we will be able to put it to good use."

The commission will be looking for financial contributions for enhancement to the basic campus. An outdoor amphitheater and demonstration areas of the Mississippi River and Little River Drainage District are among enhancements envisioned.

Dr. Stephen Overmann, director of the environmental science program at Southeast, said the Conservation Campus offers "tremendous educational opportunities."

Missouri has four nature centers in operation. The one in Cape Girardeau will be the only center with a specific partnership with a university.

Among commitments from the university was a full-time coordinator of internships. The university will also provide equipment and materials for laboratories and nature study.

"There are tremendous opportunities for our university students, hands-on experience in education of the public," he said. "Then we serve the conservation department by providing lots of highly motivated and highly educated workers."

Space at the center and the outdoor educational areas will be used for university instruction.

"In turn, our students will take that education into the schools throughout the region through the mobile classroom," Overmann said.

The center will be equipped with state-of-the art technology. "I see it as kind of a hub for reaching area schools via the Internet," Overmann said. "We have a lot of kids who are very skilled at the Internet and the World Wide Web. I see an interactive exchange before students ever come to the center.

"We have always seen this as a win-win situation for everyone involved: the university, the conservation department, the students, the county," Overmann said. "This will be great for the area."