Looking at Nature in a Brand New Way
after wowing kids for more than 30 years, Beaver Creek’s Discovery Room is getting a big new makeover
Over the course of more than three decades, the Discovery Room at Beaver Creek Reserve’s Wise Nature Center has welcomed more than 1 million visitors, a large share of them students on field trips getting valuable, hands-on experiences with nature. “Every 6- to 10-year-old who walks into that room for the first time is awestruck,” explains Erik Keisler, Beaver Creek’s executive director. And what kid wouldn’t be awestruck in a room filled with live snakes, mounted lynx and deer, piles of pelts, animal skulls, and much more?
But the Discovery Room has become a victim of the passage of time and its own popularity. All that hands-on attention from little hands has taken its toll on the exhibits.
A few years ago a survey found that the Nature Center was Beaver Creek’s biggest draw, a realization that led to a fundraising campaign to completely remodel the Discovery Room to better meet the needs of 21st century visitors. That doesn’t mean a lot of fancy technology, Keisler explains. In fact, the room will remain relatively low-tech and hands-on. However, it will serve less as a stand-alone attraction and more as an introduction to the natural adventures that can be experienced by visitors just outside on Beaver Creek’s 400 acres. “This is a starting point to get people connected with nature,” Keisler says of the Discovery Room. “This is not an end destination.”
Beaver Creek has raised $425,000 for the remodeling, $200,000 of it coming in December from a Scheels of Eau Claire matching grant. The project has several elements. First, what is now a library will be converted into an early childhood area. “We definitely want to invite a younger audience to fall in love with nature earlier, because they will carry that relationship all through their lives,” Keisler says. The Discovery Room will be broken into habitat areas, featuring Wisconsin flora and fauna in prairie savannah, deep woods, and stream environments. A display featuring beavers will be replaced by a model of a beaver den in the bank of a stream, which will be large enough for children to crawl inside. There will be three giant trees in the room full of taxidermy specimens, as well as areas to learn about animal tracks, fur, and scat; tanks featuring live turtles, snakes, and fish; and an area devoted to birding, a popular Beaver Creek activity.
As well as remodeling the Discovery Room, the fundraising will also pay for new outdoor equipment that visitors can use at Beaver Creek, including cross-country skis, GPS devices, kayaks, and archery equipment.
The Discovery Room will be open until about March 5; after that, exhibits will be removed and remodeling will start. The project is expected to be done by late May or early June, with a ribbon cutting tentatively planned for June 29. In the meantime, live animals that were part of the Discovery Room will be housed in the Savannah Room on the Nature Center’s lower level. Visitors who come to Beaver Creek for the annual French Toast Breakfast on Sunday, March 19, will be able to see displays of what the Discovery Room will look like in a few short months. In addition to the Discovery Room revamp, Beaver Creek has recently upgraded its trail system – complete with new bridges, signs, and maps – as well as created three outdoor “nature nooks” aimed at the youngest visitors.
“I think people will be surprised to come back out to the Reserve who haven’t been here in even maybe a year to see how much will be different by June 29,” Keisler said.
To learn more or to make a donation, visit beavercreekreserve.org.
