Education Center

What's New (updated November 2009)

Thanks to a very generous gift from Bill and Jean Lane, and support from San Mateo County, funding for our Education Center is now complete. The Bill and Jean Lane Education Center at Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve, as it is now officially known, will open its doors for the first time in 2010.

Take a Virtual Tour

See the Education Center
exhibits up close and
personal. Your tour starts here.

Background

Edgewood's Master Plan calls for the development of a low-intensity, small-scaled interpretive center, if shown to be feasible. Now, thanks to the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation, the feasibility of an interpretive center may soon be determined. In October, 2000, the Parks Foundation launched a campaign to begin raising money for an interpretive center for Edgewood.

Planning and Design

In 2002, a community-based planning process was initiated to identify the needs and constraints for the Center. That process was completed in December 2002 with the presentation of the Conceptual Plan to the Parks Commission. This plan, developed at a cost of $65,000, is the culmination of a year-long effort led by the Acorn Group teamed with Ron Yeo, FAIA Architect, and funded by the Parks Foundation. The Conceptual Plan, complete with architectural views of the proposed Center, is available at the County's website, www.eparks.net.

The detailed design was completed by midyear 2004. A Mitigated Negative Declaration of environmental impact was approved (meaning that the Center will have no significant environmental impact as long as certain documented mitigation measures are followed).

Construction Phase 1

The first phase of construction was completed in November 2005. This consisted of improvements to the outer parking lot, restoration of the Cordilleras Creek corridor, and construction of a new pedestrian bridge across the creek.

Construction Phase 2

Phase 2 consists of construction of the building and exhibits, improvements to the inner parking lot, and native landscaping around the Center site. Groundbreaking is planned for December 2009 with the building opening in 2010.

How Can You Support this Project?

The Education Center is funded entirely by private and public contributions.

If you are interested in helping to promote this project, or donating to it, contact the San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation, 215 Bay Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, or Julia Bott, the Executive Director, at (650) 321-5812 or julia@supportparks.org.