FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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INTERPRETIVE CENTER UPDATE By Bill Korbholz We have lots of exciting news to report about the project to build an Interpretive Center at Edgewood. Fundraising Continues First, recall that the Friends of Edgewood pledged $10,000 last year as a part of a $50,000 challenge grant to the Parks Foundation. Melvin and Joan Lane pledged $25,000 and the remaining $10,000 came from an anonymous donor. We’re happy to report that thanks to your generous support, a total of $45,000 in matching funds was raised, for a total of $95,000. The Foundation has now raised about $450,000 of the $800,000 required to begin construction, and hopes to raise the remaining $350,000 in order to break ground this August. If that schedule is met, the Interpretive Center will be available for the 2006 docent season. In addition to raising funds for the building construction, another $700,000 will be required to build the exhibits and to seed funding for continuing operations and maintenance. Exhibits
1. A Special Place. Upon entering, the visitor is greeted by highly visual, large full-color photomurals of Edgewood landscapes with brief text outlining the conservation history of the park. The entire display is movable to permit group use of space. 2. Green Design. This panel highlights sustainable design elements of the Center's architecture. 3. Changing Colors, Changing Seasons. A large photo-album format features silk-screened see-through acrylic pages that the visitor layers upon one another, showing the Edgewood landscape swathed in changing colors of wildflowers and other vegetation as the seasons change from spring to late autumn. 4. Life in Serpentine. A larger-than-life grasslands soil profile offers a tactile experience that, through comparison of serpentine and non-serpentine soil complexes, explores the foundations of Edgewood's unique biota. Set against images of the larger grasslands landscape, the exhibit tells the above-ground story in terms of the below-ground structure, revealing the geologic forces that created Edgewood's unique soils. An inset map shows the location of serpentine soils and where changes in soil type can be observed via Edgewood's indicator plants. 5. Streams and Springs. This realistic riparian exhibit features dripping water, tracks embedded in mud-stained concrete, other animal signs, and sounds of aquatic life (e.g., tree frogs). Visitors are challenged to seek out and identify the denizens of Edgewood's waterways by the "clues" left behind in this exhibit. 6. Species that Specialize. This exhibit features a showcase of Edgewood's endangered and threatened plant and animal species. An interactive game illustrates how specialization can lead to extinction when habitat is lost. 7. Test Your Exotic IQ. The visitor is challenged to link an intriguing piece of trivia to the corect image of either an exotic or native species (for example, mustard, eucalyptus, and starling vs. goldfields, madrone, and Acorn woodpecker). 8. Changeable. This is a small, changeable exhibit area for seasonal or special exhibits such as photography, "wildflower of the week," etc. 9. Land and Water. This three-dimensional watershed model features Edgewood and its trails in the context of surrounding mid-Peninsula lands, faultlines, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and the San Francisco Bay. Interactive elements invite prediction and play. 10. Computer Stations. Computer stations offer opportunities to watch video clips, explore topics in depth, learn via web links, use interactive software, sign up for "e-gram" notification about special events, etc. Flat-screen monitors save electricity as well as space. 11. Stewards of the Land. A panel highlights curent efforts to eradicate exotics and restore native landscapes, and an invitation to become involved. 12. Voices of Edgewood, Past and Present. Visitors use hand-held earpieces to hear oral interviews with descendants of the Ohlone, Finklers (actor), and the Friends of Edgewood. Stories reveal the significance of the land to each group or occupant. 13. Donor Rock. Donor acknowledgments are engraved in stone and mounted on a serpentine boulder at the entrance. The Doors
Thanks to the efforts of the RecycleWorks green building program, we already have our front doors! These doors were the entrance to the County controller's office when it was located in the Courthouse annex building, which will be torn down when Redwood City renovates the Courthouse square. How You Can Help Again, we want to thank everyone who has donated to make this dream a reality. Remember that all funding for this project must come from private and public donations; the County has no money in its budget for this project. To contact the Parks Foundation, call Julia Bott, the Executive Director, at (650) 321-5812, or email her at Julia@SupportParks.org. |
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The Acorn
Group, who provided the Conceptual Plan for the Interpretive Center, designed
the exhibits as shown 