(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson county board of supervisors Tuesday heard an update on a project to rennovate the former “Back Porch” building into a nature center.
The building was moved to Kenue Park north of Okoboji several years ago.
Naturalist Barbara Tagomi says the facility was open this summer with a limited number of utilities available. She says good crowds attended several programs that were put on.
Tagomi says they’ve adopted the theme “If the Land Could Talk” for their project.
Plans call for a wetland area on the northeast side of the center with native american displays and gardens surrounding the building. The interior would consist of an atrium overlooking the wetland; library; kitchen; classroom; restrooms; laboratory; storage areas and an office area.
Tagomi says the project will be carried out in several phases: the first being getting the building in shape so they can have more activities there; getting interior bathrooms up and running (currently port-a-pots are being used); landscaping on the outside of the building; extensive work on the interior of the building; and constructing an addition on to the building. They hope to do most of the work with volunteers.
The project has a total estimated cost of 4.2 million dollars. Of that, a million dollars would be used for an endowment. Tagomi says their main focus now is to get fundraising started. She says they’ll also be applying for numerous grants and will be putting in an application for a CAT Grant through the Vision Iowa Program.
Tagomi says they’ve already been awarded a 15,500-dollar grant from the University of Okoboji Foundation for restroom facilities utilizing a natural process for wastewater treatment.
