Watershed Center breaks ground on education center

The Watershed Center broke ground Friday for its education building at Valley Water Mill Park in northwest Springfield.

The education building is the final part of the Watershed Center campus, 2450 E. Valley Water Mill Road, and will feature public meeting spaces, offices for education staff, and demonstrations of water- and energy-efficient construction and operations, according to a city of Springfield news release.  

The center is a partnership between the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, city of Springfield, City Utilities, Greene County and the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.

The $870,000 building, to be built by Carson-Mitchell Inc. and designed by Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc., is funded by a combination of public and private donations. It is scheduled for completion in early summer 2011. Plans call for the building to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified.

The entire Watershed Center includes trails, outdoor classrooms and learning stations, handicap-accessible fishing piers, rain gardens, wetland filter areas and offices for the Springfield-Greene County Parks Outdoor Initiatives Program and Maintenance Facility, according to the release.

"This is the culmination of 10 years of planning and fundraising," Watershed Committee Executive Director Loring Bullard said in the release. "Clean water is a big deal to people in this area. We sincerely appreciate the community's interest and support."[[In-content Ad]]