Nature center secures land for expansion

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- Officials from the Environmental Nature Center have

purchased a one-acre plot of land to allow for a much-needed expansion,

the director of the center announced.

The center, a Newport Beach organization dedicated to educating visitors

about the ecosystem of California, bought the land after a two-year

effort to raise funds and wrestle the deal through escrow, said executive

director Bo Glover.

With the new land, the center will create facilities such as an

interpretive center for students and larger staff offices -- developments

that will also make it easier for people to locate the organization,

Glover said.

“We’ve been hidden behind this property,” he said. “It’s been difficult

for the community to find us.”

The land, next to Newport Harbor High, is currently occupied by the

former headquarters of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. That

building will be demolished in about two weeks, Glover noted, making way

for a 2,000-square-foot office structure.

The center currently houses its interpretive center and general office

space in a small trailer that is crowded with wildlife displays and

tables for student activities.

“We outgrew that trailer years ago,” Glover said. “My staff will be happy

to have some breathing room.”

Former Newport Beach councilwoman and longtime environmental activist

Jean Watt, who chaired the fund-raising drive with Bob Shelton, also a

former councilman and city manager, said the center provides a unique

educational opportunity for Orange County students.

“Even though it’s small, [the center] has the variety that shows all of

the natural systems that exist in California,” she said. “In one small

area, they can teach people everything about the natural biosphere.”

On Tuesday afternoon, third-graders from Whittier Elementary were

learning about redwood forests in a cool corner of the center. Spread out

around the 2.5 acres of the grounds, the center has representative plants

from all of California’s climate regions -- from desert cacti to the

reeds of freshwater marshes.

The center also sponsors programs on native American history, tours for

Boy and Girl scouts, and summer camp programs, Glover said.

Eventually, Watt said, the center hopes to build permanent office space

on its new land.

Doing so, however, will require a new funding drive, which will begin

soon.