April 23, 2004
Contact: Lisa M. Green, (802) 457-2779, ext. 107, lgreen@vinsweb.org

VINS OPENS STATE-OF-THE-ART NATURE CENTER IN QUECHEE

Quechee, VT - On June 12, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) will open a state-of-the-art raptor exhibit close by one of New England’s natural wonders, Quechee Gorge. The raptor exhibit, featuring a collection of North America’s finest birds of prey, will be the first phase of the VINS Nature Center, a world-class center for environmental learning being designed by world-renowned architect Peter Bohlin. The center’s dynamic, site-sensitive structures will one day house a campus where environmental issues important to all New England can be addressed.

Located on 47 quiet, forested acres, bordering a pond and wetland just upstream of the point where the Ottauquechee River makes its thunderous entry into the 167 foot deep Quechee Gorge, the VINS complex is planned not only as a center for environmental science and education, but as a major New England tourist attraction. Set just off busy U.S. Route 4, the most heavily traveled highway crossing central Vermont, estimates place annual visitation to the center in excess of 100,000.

VINS, long headquartered at an old dairy farm in the hills above Woodstock, begins its move to the Quechee site with the opening of the raptor facility. Not only will hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls be displayed in modern enclosures, VINS will continue its renowned treatment and release programs that have, over three decades, returned thousands of injured birds back to the wild.

Visitors to the raptor exhibit will view the birds perhaps as never before, in soaring, roomy enclosures. Instead of looking from outside the structures to a darkened environment within, visitors will stand in the same light in which the birds exist. “We believe that our hawks and eagles, all our birds of prey, will be better seen by visitors at the Quechee Nature Center than at any other raptor facility,” according to Sherman Kent, VINS executive director.

Also opening at the site this summer will be a new VINS Nature Shop, whose predecessor has become a popular shopping destination in nearby Quechee village. The shop will be located in the VINS welcome building which will also provide tickets and information to visitors. Close by will be an education building, with classrooms and restrooms, and a behind-the-scenes animal care facility. A system of trails will wind through the 47 acre mixed habitat site to the shore of Dewey Pond on the Ottauquechee, and will eventually connect with trails leading to the adjacent Vermont state park and Quechee Gorge.

From the day of its opening in June, the VINS Center will offer daily programs for visitors of all ages, including “Predators of the Sky,” a unique flight program featuring several of VINS’ most magnificent raptor residents.

The raptor exhibit will include 17 state-of-the-art enclosures ranging in size from the massive 17 by 40 foot bald eagle enclosure, with a 20 foot ceiling, to the 9 by 16 foot screech owl enclosure, with its 16 foot ceiling.

The VINS Nature Center will be open year round, seven days a week except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Days. The facilities making their public debut in June are the first phase of an environmental education campus that will later include administrative offices, additional classroom and meeting space, indoor nature exhibits, avian rehabilitation facilities, a café, and a larger retail store.

Peter Bohlin, architect for the Nature Center, is the designer of many important structures including Bill Gates’ home. He is also the founding member of the Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson firm of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The exhibit designers for the project are Main Street Design, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The center is being built by Engelberth Construction Inc., of Colchester, Vermont.

A considerable variety of wildlife inhabits or visits the 47 acre site’s woods and marshes. Trails will wind past woodland vernal pools and reach Dewey Pond overlooks where many species of wildlife can be observed in their natural habitat. A portion of the construction area will remain undisturbed as a tool to teach about the site’s transformation from woodland to nature center.

VINS has made environmental reclamation a high priority at the Quechee site. Trees felled on the site to clear land for buildings are being turned into furnishings and are being used in the construction of the raptor exhibits and other on-site facilities.

The VINS Nature Center will further define the region as one of New England’s primary tourist destinations, adding to the impressive mix of area attractions which include: the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park and the Billings Farm and Museum seven miles to the west, and the Montshire Museum, on the Connecticut River in Norwich, an equal distance to the northeast.

VINS, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, was founded in Woodstock in 1972 by a group of local citizens intent on improving the water quality of the Ottauquechee River. Headquartered in Woodstock, VINS has regional offices in Montpelier and Manchester, VT. VINS’ educational programs serve more than 20,000 adults and 35,000 students each year. VINS has long been a leading research center for the study of migratory songbirds, common loons, peregrine falcons, and other threatened or endangered species. Its wildlife services department has treated and released thousands of injured wild birds of all species.

For more information, please visit their website at www.vinsnaturecenter.org