Plans for Bay City Environmental Education Center underway

Construction on the first phase of a new environmental education center at the mouth of the Saginaw River in Bay City is set to start late this summer or early fall.

The center will allow BaySail to expand some of its popular on-board programs and offer them to more people on land, says Roger Nugent, executive director of BaySail, a nonprofit organization that owns and operates the the Appledore IV and Appledore V schooners. BaySail offers several on-ship programs, including Science Under Sail, a hands-on science program for area elementary through high school students.

So far, BaySail has secured about $716,800 in funds for the $1.65 million project, which will go toward the first phase of the 6,500-square-foot project. The facility will be located in Hampton Township on three acres of donated land, which used to be part of a larger parcel owned by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The first phase of the project will include a raised, 600-foot wetland walkway, a parking area, and a pier, which will allow BaySail to begin offering land-based programs at the site before the main structure is built. The organization now operates from a small office at 902 North Water Street.

"There was always a vision to have riverfront site to have educational programs," Nugent says.

Once built, the facility will feature a greenhouse, which will double as an atrium and central meeting place, he says. It also will have photovoltaic solar panels, a green roof with plants growing in soil, and an environmentally friendly run-off system.

BaySail will use the green features of the facility itself to educate people in the community about building with environmentally friendly features. The organization will hold seminars on everything from boat building and gardening with native species to invasive species removal and how to build and install a rain barrel as part of stormwater runoff management system.

The on-board programs focus on hand-on activities where everyone pitches in, Nugent says.

"We'll carry that approach to our on-land programs," he says. "All task are teachable moments."

Writer: Jenny Cromie
Source: BaySail, Roger Nugent