The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes was founded in 1966 as the result of
a grassroots community effort to preserve the Shaker Parklands from
becoming the route for a new freeway connecting Cleveland's East Side
to downtown.
The parklands had been designated
in the late 19th century as a natural green space, set aside by the
city of Cleveland for the benefit of its fast growing population.
Citizens used the park as an escape to the "country" as the industrial
city pushed eastward and as the land that had been farmed by the North
Union Shaker community began to be transformed into the new suburban
communities of the Heights. City and suburban residents found that they
could enjoy the area along the Doan Brook, from Warrensville Center
Road through Rockefeller Park to Lake Erie, and stay in touch with the
natural world.
That setting was threatened in
the mid-1960s by the proposed Clark-Lee freeway, which would have cut
through and over the Shaker Lakes section. Citizens organized to fight
the freeway through a number of strategies, including the establishment
of a Nature Center. Thus the Nature Center stands today. Its goals have
remained consistent, yet simple: to teach environmental education and
to preserve the area's important natural habitats ~ lake, stream,
marsh, field, ravine and forest..
In 1971 the
National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior
named the Center a National Environmental Education Landmark, one of
the first organizations to be recognized by the Park Service. In
addition, the Park Service designated the Nature Center a National
Environmental Study Area, noting the unique education opportunities
offered by the diverse habitats found in such an urban setting. The
parklands are also registered on the Register of National Historic
Sites.
Ten thousand children participate
annually in more than 30,000 hours of curriculum-related school
programs, including a strong early childhood program for several East
Side school districts and the Cleveland Public Schools. Additionally,
10,000 walkers, runners, and bird-watchers use the trails and grounds
for exercise and enjoyment of nature.
In 2003,
the Nature Center renovated and updated its indoor facilities to
include: upgraded and expanded classrooms, community meeting rooms, a
nature experience area / the Jean Eakin bird observation station, an
elevator, accessible rest rooms and a gift shop. Sustainable building
practices, including reusing existing building components and recycling
construction materials, limited impact on trees and natural, adjacent
habitats, and a geothermal heating and cooling system were part of the
renovation.
The Nature Center has served the
community well for more than four decades with its dual purpose of
preservation and education. Its challenge now is to plan the
continuation and improvement of its excellent programs and facilities
to serve all of the diverse communities that surround it into the first
decades of the new century.
