Nature center expected to open in 2005

A skeleton of what promises to be one of Southeast Missouri's most popular buildings has emerged from the soil at Cape County Park North.

The conservation campus, a term coined for a $4.75 million, 20,000-square-foot nature center, is about half completed and, as is not uncommon with huge building projects of this sort, a bit behind schedule.

Department of Conservation agent A.J. Hendershott once hoped for the building to be finished in 2004, but now he figures spring of 2005 is a more realistic goal.

Bids to create the exhibits recently were awarded to Taylor Studios. There will be around 1,300 exhibits in the building that will be designed to give visitors a hands-on experience of outdoor activity.

The exhibits will show how man has used resources over time, how hunting, fishing and woodworking have changed over the centuries.

There will be an exhibit of ecosystems near the Mississippi River and exhibits demonstrating how to wait in a duck blind and what it's like to be inside a beaver dam. There will be a real beehive behind glass. All are examples of nature scenes that can or could once be seen throughout Southeast Missouri.

"This building will do many things for people in the area," Hendershott said. "It will have something for people of all ages, particularly schoolchildren. This is our opportunity to say that Southeast Missouri is a wonderful place to live, and here's what's neat about it."

In addition to the exhibits, the conservation department will offer many different classes on subjects like tying flies, cooking outdoors and spotting owls.

The conservation department will offer outdoor activities such as bird-watching and explorations of the marsh pond that will be constructed in front of the building.

Ducks Unlimited has sponsored the pond and will teach visitors about ducks, the importance of waterfowl and the wetlands in general, Hendershott said.

Chuck Martin, the director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Cape Girardeau, thinks the new facility will be a huge regional draw for the Cape Girardeau area.

"I think when you look at our particular area, there are a lot of outdoor activities, a lot of outdoorsmen," he said. "The projections I've seen anticipated 100,000 visitors annually. You look at all the programs offered to children, seniors and families, I really think this will have a tremendous draw."

Given the right publicity, he also thinks people from outside the region will be inspired to get off the highway to see the conservation campus.

In keeping with the conservation-speak, Martin said, "This will be one more arrow in our quiver in what we're able to offer as true tourism."

The idea for the facility came from the Cape Girardeau County Commission. The county donated the land and in 1998, after many rounds of discussion, the conservation department authorized the project.

The facility will be manned by 12 new conservation agents.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635