Nature Center Begins New Expansion
By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF
 Groundbreaking: (from left) Senator Dan Moody, Alan Golden of Georgia Power, Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley, Richard Jacobson of Cox Enterprises and Board Trustee, Nature Center Executive Director Ann Bergstrom, Chris Sawyer, Chair of the Capital Campaign (with Alston & Bird), Rick Hirsekorn, representing CH2M HILL, José Creamer, CNC Board of Trustees President, Andy Isakson with Isakson Barnhart, and Roswell Council members Lori Henry, Jerry Orlans and Becky Wynn. |
“Debt free and exhibit full.”
That was the pronouncement for the new interpretive center at the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell. The groundbreaking for the new development was held last Tuesday.
The whole event was a short affair, with only 10 minutes of words from the chairman of the Center’s board of directors, José Creamer, as well as director Ann Bergstrom. Perhaps the most astounding pronouncement from the speeches came from Christopher Glenn Sawyer, chairman of the capital campaign, who announced that the Nature Center had raised almost $10 million to build the new additions.
The new building is expected to be 10,000 square feet and house experimental exhibits, a high definition theater and a rooftop terrace. A new Discovery Pavilion will also be constructed on the site of the current museum, ideal for outdoor events and surrounded by woodland terraces and gardens. The entire project will be certified by LEED (the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and its Green Building Rating System, showing that the construction and materials are environmentally friendly and responsible.
While Senator Johnny Isakson was the honorary chairman of the capital campaign, he was unable to attend the ceremony, instead being represented by his brother, Andy, who read a letter from the senator to the audience.
“I am proud that the expansion of the cultural and education center has become a reality,” Isakson wrote. “I’m sure the citizens of Georgia are pleased and proud that this facility is becoming a leader in highlighting the ecology of the river while teaching the importance of understanding the wonders of our natural environment.”
Roswell Councilwoman Becky Wynn is a long time supporter of the Nature Center and could hardly contain her excitement at the ceremony, telling about the first time she came to the Center.
“I had found an injured bird, and I took it to the Nature Center,” she said. “[They said that] it was a starling and that is an invasive bird. And they… fed it to the owls because it is an invasive bird. But then I found out all about their rehabilitation centers. It’s absolutely phenomenal what they do here. I was living here maybe six months, and that’s how I found out about it.
“We came here one time they were having an open house and they had the birds of prey flying from one end [of the room] to the other. Then they were flying right overhead. And the birds that they used could not be released into the wild. One was an owl that only had one eye, its eye was put out. Another could never fly again it was so severely injured when it was hit by a car. They [the Nature Center] keep them here and they take them out for training and educational purposes. I’m so glad that Roswell has this place.”
The new buildings are scheduled to open in the summer of 2009.
At the groundbreaking were the familiar movers and shakers of the community: Brandon Beach of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce, Becky Wynn of the Roswell City Council, Lynne Riley, the Fulton County Commissioner for North Fulton and Senator Dan Moody.