POOL NATURE CENTER
In 2022 the Pool Learning Center and Wilmington, VT Masonic Lodge donated 7.5 acres of land and a 1600 square foot building to the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum. This generous gift has become the staging area for the Museum's next exciting incarnation!
The Pool Nature Center Building was designed to provide one-on-one assistance to students with dyslexia and other learning differences. We will continue that tradition of educational use with a newly opened up classroom-sized presentation space. Our live animal educators and staff are moving in now and establishing a base of operations for our regional programming.
The outdoor pavillion was built in the summer of 2023 thanks to a generous gift from the Canaday Family Foundation. This 30 x 40 pavilion will be made available to the public and other organizations in 2024. The Museum will also use it for presentation and camp space.
IMPROVED PARKING & ACCESS
Thanks to a Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) Community Grant, we were able to expand parking capacity and improve the existing driveway.
LIVE ANIMAL HOUSING
Thanks to generous community support, we have built new enclosures for our non-releasable birds of prey. This will not be a public facility but the animals will come out regularly for both on-site and traveling programs. Our reptiles, invertebrates and mammals are moving in now.
We are very excited about the addition of the Pool Nature Center to the Museum's resources. If you would like to learn more about how we are planning to use the site, and how you can be involved in our next steps, contact us.
If you would like to donate to any aspect of this project, or the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum's larger mission, please do so here.
coming in 2024:
hiking trails
pollinator gardens
public presentations and events
