Fort Collins Foundation Gives Colorado State University $325,000 For Environmental Learning Center Expansion
Thursday, October 9, 1997
FORT COLLINS--A $325,000 gift from a Larimer County
philanthropic organization will fund an interactive children's
exploration marsh and amphitheater as part of an aggressive
expansion of Colorado State University's Environmental Learning
Center.
The Stryker Short Foundation's gift will greatly enhance the
center's planned new headquarters, located one-quarter mile west
of Interstate 25 and Prospect Avenue in Fort Collins. The ELC's
new home is expected to attract more than 500,000 visitors and
Colorado youth when it opens in the fall of 1998. Construction is
expected to begin early in 1998.
"Thanks to the Stryker Short Foundation's generous gift, the
Environmental Learning Center's new home will serve as the jewel
for environmental education in Colorado," said Glenn Haas,
director of the ELC. "This contribution will help us further the
center's mission to advance environmental stewardship among our
students and the community and will incorporate a number of
concepts that illustrate the issues that shape our natural
heritage."
Haas said the children's exploration marsh funded by the
foundation gift aims to introduce youth and adults alike to the
value of water and wetlands to Colorado and the West. The
meandering, interactive boardwalk will connect the Environmental
Learning Center's main building with Boxelder Creek and wetlands
on the property, where visitors will have the opportunity to see
and appreciate diverse aquatic wildlife. Colorado youth, with the
help of adult environmental educators, will help design and build
the project so that it reflects the interests of today's young
people.
In addition, Stryker Short's gift will fund an amphitheater
as part of the Environmental Learning Center expansion. The
amphitheater, nestled amid xeriscape demonstrations to illustrate
the need for conserving water in the West, will serve as a
centerpiece for educational programs and community events. This
outdoor theater, located behind the ELC's new headquarters, will
seat as many as 100 people. Youth from the area also will help
design and build the project.
"Both of these projects will provide an excellent
opportunity to discuss water resources, urban wildlife, natural
building materials and many other important aspects of the
environment," said Al Dyer, dean of the College of Natural
Resources. "These interpretive facilities will enhance the
experience for students and visitors to the ELC and provide real-
life experiences in our natural world."
Colorado State's College of Natural Resources established
the Environmental Learning Center in 1968 as a way to convey
environmental research to Colorado residents and visitors where
it actually takes place--in the rivers, wetlands, prairie
grasslands and other natural settings. The concept has proven
popular in Colorado, especially with youth. This year, more than
80,000 students visited the center and participated in guided or
self-guided educational programs focusing on river ecology,
fisheries, waterfowl, wildlife, raptor rehabilitation, wetlands
and other environmental education programs.
Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Coors Brewing Co. in 1993,
the ELC was able to begin plans for construction of a much-needed
larger building and interpretive center. That gift led to a
greater partnership with the city of Fort Collins, the city's
Convention and Visitors Bureau and Colorado State Parks, both of
which will share space in the new building. The partnership
between the university, city and state made funding the marsh and
amphitheater especially worthwhile, a Stryker Short Foundation
representative said.
"The ELC project is a one-of-a-kind and a jewel in the crown
of our community," said Beth Juday, executive director of the
Stryker Short Foundation. "We are very proud of Colorado State
University, the city of Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Convention
and Visitors Bureau and Colorado State Parks for their efforts in
working together to create an educational showplace for our
entire community to call their own."
The Stryker Short Foundation was established in 1995 by
Tommy and Pat Short to benefit projects involving youth,
environment and the arts, primarily in Larimer County.
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