The 52-year-old Richfield Nature Center adjusts to demand for more environmental education

Just beyond Minneapolis is a natural oasis well known to its more than 100,000 visitors each year. But the decennial Wood Lake Nature Center is now at a major inflection point, one that managers say is a long time coming.

Wood Lake Nature Center director Paul Smithson said when it was built in 1971, the 150-acre center in Richfield was one of the first of its kind nationwide.

People came from all over the country to understand how Wood Lake could be entered as an urban nature center. It was just a little unknown back then and still not very common these days, she said.

Eight-year-old Chloe Ricketts ran past five other forest forts during a day camp at Wood Lake in June. Eager to show off the day’s progress on her shed, she crouched under crisscrossing branches and driftwood to demonstrate how she could get inside of her.

I added a log for you to sit on so you don’t sit on dirt and leaves, she said. And I made a roof so it doesn’t rain on the animal or person inside.

Creative problem-solving is an important part of outdoor exploration for Chloe and the 23,000 other people who participate in the South Suburbs Nature Center’s educational programming each year.

Smithson said the nature center, which is free to visit and accessible to two bus routes, continues to hold a unique location in an inner-ring suburb of the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Legislature agreed, granting Richfield $12 million in the last session for a new educational building and trail improvements.

The nature center’s current building is outdated and is too small to meet the current demand for environmental education on the marsh, said Amy Markle, director of Richfield Recreation Services. She added that the building is typically booked year-round with camps and school groups.

Markle also noted that the open interior space isn’t ideal for educating several groups of people at once. Lessons for schoolchildren and campers may be interrupted by members of the public.

Now that we know that environmental education is a lot like a science class you might take in a formal school setting, we know students learn best with a space that has walls and access to science equipment, like microscopes, she said.

The updated facility will be four times larger and have new exhibits on indigenous culture. The current building is not as energy efficient as it could be and needs updating to fully comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Wood Lake offers all terrain wheelchairs for the trails.

Money remains an issue. Even with state funding and a $3 million federal grant, the city is $9 million short of the estimated $24 million needed. They hope to fill some of that shortfall by instituting a citywide sales tax to be voted on in 2024. Improvements could begin as early as 2025, advocates say.

Bloomington resident Josey Stafford often takes her four-year-old daughter, Isabel, to the Wood Lake Nature Center as part of a children’s playgroup. During one visit, they plunged their nets into the swamp, pulling out slugs and other small creatures.

Stafford said that as a parent who appreciates hands-on educational opportunities for her child, being able to explore a protected marshland so close to home is “a treasure.

We saw bald eagles. We have seen the muskrats and always see a heron when we come. It’s just a really great opportunity for her to connect with nature, Stafford said of her daughter.

Day camper Eli Catir, 8, says he’s an animal expert who takes pride in gaining knowledge of the surrounding area and gaining wilderness skills.

The birds, the fish, the turtles, everything about nature that I love, Eli said. I’ve been going here for about my entire life. So I think I will keep going here for my whole life.