Fundraising kickoff planned for 2014

Jay C. Hormel Nature Center officials have selected two possible locations for a new Visitor Center.

After the Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board unanimously gave permission to Nature Center Executive Director Larry Dolphin and the Friends of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center to start work on replacing the Visitor Center in October, Dolphin has been in discussions with an architect, Hormel Foundation leaders and other local officials.

“All indications are there’s pretty good support for it,” Dolphin said.

The first potential site for the Visitor Center is near the Nature Center’s maintenance shop and storage area, which Dolphin said would be a little tight, but it would be close to the Ruby Rupner Auditorium and parking. The second possible site is on the southwest corner of the property near the old driveway to Jay C. Hormel’s former home, which would require some new parking. Though farther from the auditorium, Dolphin said, this site would have more available space.

Nature Center officials are looking to build a new, larger building in part to have more space to expand programming.

“We are cramped for space with all that we’re trying to do here,” Dolphin said.

Plus, the current Visitor Center, built in the 1970s, is in the Austin Municipal Airport’s current flight path, which means nothing can be built or rebuilt in that spot. Both potential sites for the new Visitor Center are out of the airport flight path.

Dolphin said they’ll select a site before April 22, 2014 — the 44th Earth Day. That’s the date Nature Center officials have set to kick off the fundraising campaign with an event that will feature the Wild Spirit Band. The Nature Center’s goal is to raise funds for the new building entirely through fundraising and to not use any taxpayer dollars.

Dolphin has been in contact with officials at similar nature centers in the Midwest, and similar building projects have cost $2 to $3 million, though a price tag has not been set for Austin’s new Visitor Center.

“We’re trying to determine the amount based on some of our goals, some of the things that we want to get done,” Dolphin said, who added he hopes to start construction in 2015 or 2016.

Dolphin said he and other officials are taking an open-minded approach in discussing ideas of what they’d like to include and accomplish with the new Visitor Center.

“We don’t want to limit our vision,” he said.

Dolphin said the new building will likely be much larger than the current one, and will feature displays on natural history, conservation, wildlife and more. Dolphin also wants more space for programming, and enough to hold two classes at once. Officials have also discussed adding a natural playground, like one featured at the Houston Nature Center.

One of Dolphin’s biggest goals with the new building is conservation, as he wants to make the building energy efficient with things like solar energy.

“For me, that’s an exciting pursuit,” he said.

The Nature Center currently has solar panels, but Dolphin said he’d like the building to be completely sustainable and off the energy grid. Dolphin and Nature Center officials commonly tell visiting students about the importance of renewable energy, so it would be practicing what they preach.

“It really reflects what we’re trying to tell the people and the children of Austin: In 50 years, ideally, more than 50 percent of energy will come from renewable,” Dolphin said.