Take Wing with PEEC and Support the New Nature Center!

PEEC is collaborating with Los Alamos County to build a nature center on Canyon Road, scheduled to be finished by Earth Day in April 2015, and you can play an important role in creating this new treasure for Los Alamos!

Click arrow to view slideshow of exhibit designs. For larger images, click here.

Click arrow to view slideshow of groundbreaking.

The Building Is Just the Beginning

A signature building needs interior exhibits worthy of the exterior. In our public-private partnership, the County will build the nature center, and PEEC will provide the exhibits. But amazing exhibits like this don’t come cheaply. We project we will need $1 million to provide indoor and outdoor exhibits worthy of such a beautiful building.

How Will We Pay for Outstanding Exhibits?

To pay for the new exhibits, PEEC has launched "Take Wing with the Nature Center", our capital campaign, and we need your help.

What Kind of Exhibits?

The new building will provide space for innovative and attractive exhibits, including:

• Information and hands-on demonstrations about our canyons, mesas, mountains, and skies.
• Wildlife viewing room with quiet space and library.
• Live animals.
• Children's discovery area.
• Planetarium/lecture room for talks, films, events, and more.
• Outdoor gathering space with Jemez Mountains views and interpretation.
• Changing exhibit space, including a community gallery.
• Dedicated classroom for schoolchildren and public programs.
• Engaging, interactive exhibits that get people of all ages excited about getting outside.
• Kids' vegetable garden.
• Butterfly garden.
• Xeric garden.
• Nature play area (e.g., fort building, mud kitchen).
• Nature Trail and connections to County trails.

How Will the Nature Center Benefit Our Community?

When you give to the nature center, you give to the community. All the money raised in this campaign will stay in Los Alamos, enriching the lives of your neighbors and friends. Your gift will:

• Broaden the theme of "Where Discoveries Are Made" from atomic energy to the world of nature.
• Reveal Los Alamos as a destination for eco-tourists and lovers of the outdoors.
• Unglue people from their computer screens - give them skills to engage with nature around them, and get everyone outdoors for healthy activities.
• Provide a gateway to the Pajarito Plateau, the Valles Caldera National Preserve, and Bandelier National Monument.
• Contribute to our downtown vibrancy with a signature building.
• Share important lessons about fire ecology, environmental sustainability, xeric gardening, and area trails.
• Provide a home for the Jemez Mountains Herbarium, an important scientific resource.
• Affirm our environmental stewardship.