January 4, 2018
The St. Edward State Park Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC) will host the first of three public meetings on Wednesday, January 23 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Husky Hall, room 1160 (10909 NE 185th St, Bothell, WA 98011). This meeting is designed to introduce the EERC to neighboring communities and collect public input around planning for the new learning center. Community members are invited to be a part of planning and visioning for the St Edwards EERC.
The St. Edward State Park EERC is regional environmental research and education hub that will provide field learning and environmental research opportunities to preK-12 students, local colleges, neighboring communities and park visitors from around the state. The EERC will be housed in space developed in partnership with Daniels Real Estate, LLC as part of its renovation of the St Edward Seminary complex. In addition to more than 1,200 square feet of classroom and meeting space, the learning center will use the diverse habitats of St Edward State Park as a living laboratory and outdoor classroom.
As a park-based learning center, the EERC has the opportunity to provide environmental education to local students from a wide range of backgrounds, research and mentorship for undergraduate and graduate studies, faculty lectures, community-led habitat restoration, and more.
The St. Edward State Park EERC planning process is a joint project of Washington State Parks and the University of Washington-Bothell. For more information, visit https://www.uwb.edu/research/facilities/st-edward.
Opportunities for public comment will be available at the meeting; public comment also may be provided electronically via the SESP-EERC web site. This is the first of three meetings that will be held from January to April 2019, as the planning process unfolds. For more information, contact StEdwards@uw.edu.
About St. Edward State Park
St. Edward is the among the most heavily used of Washington’s state parks. Its forested hills, undeveloped shoreline, streams and wetlands are home to bats, owls, woodpeckers, and other wildlife. Its trails attract walkers, trail runners and mountain bike users year-round.
The former St. Edward Seminary, now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, is currently under renovation by Daniels Real Estate, LLC, a private development firm specializing in historic preservation. The building will open as an 82-room lodge in 2020, with a portion of the complex repurposed to house the St Edward Environment and Education Research Center.
