Mass Audubon staff and friends at the grand opening of the Environmental Learning Center at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary. Left to right: Jennifer Feller, Bob Delano (Chapman Construction/Design), Laura Krich, Brandt Wild (Chapman Construction/Design), Renata Pomponi (Drumlin Farm sanctuary director), Gary Clayton (president, Mass Audubon), Marian Thornton, Nick d’Arbeloff (Mass Audubon board of directors), Christy Foote-Smith (former Drumlin Farm sanctuary director), Tia Pinney, Susan Madaus, Dick Thornton, Bill Maclay (Maclay Architects), and Robin Stuart. Photo by Heidi Thoren.
Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary celebrated the grand opening of its new Environmental Learning Center on June 9, almost two years after construction began.
The gathering at the popular Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary and working farm in Lincoln commenced with a ribbon-cutting followed by building tours, opportunities to meet raptors and Drumlin Farm’s resident fox, hands-on science activities, and educational program highlights.
The 3,700-square-foot Environmental Learning Center (ELC), and its neighboring outdoor classroom structure, the Bluebird Pavilion, are situated between the wildlife sanctuary’s nature center and the site of the former education building. The ELC is about three times the size of the building it replaced at Drumlin, which as of 2017 employed about 15 year-round educators and conducts about 40,000 educational programs (some off-site).
The ELC and the pavilion will serve as the hub from which all of Drumlin Farm’s environmental education programming will flow. They will provide the home base for the programs through which Drumlin Farm teacher/naturalists and other educators support Mass Audubon’s mission to connect people and nature. Featuring a 42.8-kilowatt system of rooftop solar panels and many other energy-conserving construction methods and materials, the building will be net-positive, annually generating more energy than it will consume.
The ELC opening represents another phase in a long-term update plan for Drumlin Farm funded by a capital campaign that aimed to raise $4.7 million. Several years ago, the farm replaced its Farm Life Center, where most programs that involve cooking take place. In late 2016, the New England Wildlife Explorations exhibit opened, replacing the old Drumlin Underground exhibit.
Drumlin Farm Director Renata Pomponi described the grand opening of the new facility as a “watershed moment” for the wildlife sanctuary.
“Mass Audubon’s enduring commitment to nature-based education has never been stronger, and Drumlin Farm is excited about the pivotal role the Environmental Learning Center will play as we build on that legacy, developing environmental and climate science programs that further conservation in the 21st century,” she said.