Construction has started on new indoor-outdoor classroom at Rock Springs Nature Center

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Construction has started at Rock Springs Conservation Nature Center on a new indoor-outdoor classroom.

In 2023, Macon County Conservation District applied and received a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to build an indoor-outdoor classroom in the lower level of the Rock Springs Nature Center.

Jerry Culp, executive director, said the project will focus on growing programming space at the Nature Center by building additional indoor and outdoor learning facilities and structures.

"A lot of the stuff we're doing is interactive and covers all the senses."

The Nature Center will be able to provide a more accessible and inclusive environment and cultivate opportunities for more students to learn about natural resources. Culp said he hopes the new space will help foster stewardship and interest in conservation among young learners and the public.

"We're trying to get more people to understand what we do," he said. "I think that this is really a showcase of that."

The construction phase of the project is estimated to take 9-12 months, with final closeout of the project happening in late spring or early summer of 2025.