Tom Ridge Environmental Center
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC) is the gateway to and administrative center for Presque Isle State Park, as well as housing interactive educational exhibits, a "Discovery Center", classrooms, and research laboratories. The Center, which officially opened on May 26, 2006, is on 12 acres (4.9 ha) just off Route 832 on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie. TREC is named for former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, "who grew up in Erie, worked at the park as a young man and provided funding for the center and numerous Presque Isle projects during his administration."
Construction on the center began in 2002, although the idea for such a center at Presque Isle was some 50 years old. The Presque Isle State Park headquarters began operating from TREC in 2005, and it is also home to offices for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Great Lakes and Coastal Zone Management programs, the DCNR Recreation and Conservation program, as well as Presque Isle Audubon, Lake-Erie Allegheny Earth Force, Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Presque Isle Partnership, and the Purple Martin Conservation Association. The Regional Science Consortium, "a collaborative, non-profit organization that focuses on and coordinates educational and research projects for Lake Erie and the upper Ohio River Basin", was organized in 2002 and is based at TREC. Its 32 member organizations include schools, school districts, colleges, universities, museums, state agencies, conservation groups, and private corporations from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Ontario.
Facilities at the 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) Tom Ridge Environmental Center include eight research laboratories (including several large aquariums) for the RSC, several classrooms, a "Discovery Center" for younger students to explore science hands-on, interpretive exhibits highlighting local and regional flora and fauna, as well as the human history and culture of the area. The center also offers a large-format movie theater, a smaller theater, gift shop, cafeteria, and a 75-foot (23 m) tall observation tower that overlooks Lake Erie. The center was constructed as a "green" building and has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating from the United States Green Building Council. Besides supporting environmental research and education, the center is meant to "increase off-season use" of the state park.
Read more about this topic: Presque Isle State Park
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