Nature Center at Shaker Lakes facts for kids
The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes is a special place in Shaker Heights, Ohio. It's a nonprofit organization, which means it's not run for profit but to help the community. Its main goals are to protect a beautiful natural area, teach people about nature, and encourage everyone to be good caretakers of our planet. The center started in 1966 because volunteers worked hard to save the Shaker Parklands. These lands were almost turned into a new freeway connecting Cleveland's East Side to downtown.
The Nature Center offers many programs for schools, including young children and students from the Cleveland Public Schools. It's also a great spot for people who love to walk, run, or watch birds on its trails. This center is home to lots of different animals and plants. They live in various natural places like marshes, brooks, fields, forests, and ravines.
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What Are the Shaker Lakes?
The Shaker Lakes are a group of parklands where the Doan Brook flows. These parklands are connected to the Doan Brook Parklands. The Shaker Lakes Park is a wild and natural area where three different cities meet. It includes two lakes that were made a long time ago by the Shakers. They were a community called the North Union Shaker community. They built dams on Doan Brook to power their businesses.
Even though it's in a busy part of Ohio, the swamp and forest areas feel like a small wilderness. This makes it a perfect place for studying nature and having fun. People from all over Greater Cleveland can visit year-round for walking, taking photos, painting, learning about nature, relaxing, and family activities. It's important to know that the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes does not manage Horseshoe or Lower Lake.
The Nature Center serves many communities on Cleveland's East Side. This includes the Shaker Square and Buckeye neighborhoods. It also helps people in nearby suburbs like Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, University Heights, East Cleveland, Beachwood, and South Euclid.
Fun Programs and Ways to Help
The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes has lots of exciting things for students. They can go on school field trips, join Outdoor Adventure Camps all year long, and take outdoor classes. There are also other fun events and programs focused on nature, like the yearly "Nature at Night" event.
If you are 13 or older, the Nature Center offers many ways to volunteer. Throughout the year, there are special events where you can help care for the environment. These events help protect the property's 20 acres of natural land and native plants.
Nature Center Buildings and Trails
The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes has both indoor and outdoor spaces that are open to everyone. You can even rent them for parties, weddings, and other events! Inside, you'll find classrooms, a meeting room, exhibit areas, a library, and a nature-themed gift shop called The Duck Pond. There's also the Jean Eakin Bird Observation Station, the Murphy Carfagna Wildlife Balcony, and a gallery where you can look out over the grounds.
Outside, there's an outdoor pavilion, the All People's Trail, and the Stearns Woodland Trail. The All People's Trail is about 0.4 miles long. It's a special elevated boardwalk designed to be easy for everyone to use, including visitors with physical disabilities. A new All People's Trail was built in 2019 and is now open. It has a fun, handmade Rose Foundation Gazebo and a wider boardwalk with spots to watch wildlife. The Stearns Woodland Trail is one mile long and starts at the Nature Center's Wildflower Garden. This trail goes through several wooded areas with native plants along the south branch of Cleveland's Doan Brook.
A Look Back: The Center's History
In 1896, the Shaker Lakes Park became part of a larger park system that included Ambler, Wade, Rockefeller, and Gordon Parks. In 1915, the city of Cleveland took ownership of the park. Later, in 1947, parts of the Shaker Lakes Park were leased to the cities of Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights.
In 1964 and 1965, there was a plan to build two new freeways, the Clark Freeway and the Lee Freeway. These freeways would have made it easier to get from downtown Cleveland to Interstate 271. The Clark Freeway was planned to go right through the Shaker Lakes Park, on both sides of the Doan Brook. The spot where the Nature Center stands today was exactly where these two proposed freeways would have met.
Many people worked together to stop the freeway. The Park Conservation Committee, along with 35 garden clubs and six community groups, led the effort. They formed a larger group called the Committee for Sane Transportation and Environmental Policy (CSTEP). This group came up with several ideas to fight the freeway. They organized walks through the park for officials and residents. They talked to schools about how important nature education was. They encouraged citizens to write letters and protest the freeway. They also asked the Audubon Society to study if a nature center would be a good idea there. The Audubon report said that "For the study of conservation and nature in an outdoor laboratory, there is no comparable area to the park within the limits of Greater Cleveland."
In the summer of 1966, fun outdoor programs were held in the lakes area. Money was given to continue these programs with a nature expert for school classes in the fall. On September 15, 1966, The Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center was officially created. They started raising money to build a center. They also worked with the City of Cleveland to get permission to build and lease the land. At the same time, the Park Conservation Committee worked to have the Center recognized as a National Environmental Education Landmark.
In 1970, a meeting was held at Shaker Heights Middle School. Governor James Rhodes was there for a presentation about the proposed freeway. After this, Governor Rhodes decided that the plan for the Clark Freeway should be removed from the Interstate System. This was a huge victory!
Maxwell Norcross, an architect from Cleveland, designed the nature center building. Most of the money for the building came from individual donations. It was finished in November 1969. Gary Nelson became the first full-time director in 1971. That same year, the Stearns Memorial Nature Trail and the Wildflower Garden were built with help from the Shaker Lakes Garden Club. In 1973, the building was changed to add more office and library space. In 1982, the All People's Trail was built. Then, in 1985, the Stearns Memorial Trail was redesigned, and an East Wing was added to the building. In 2003, the Nature Center updated its indoor facilities using environmentally friendly building methods. They made the classrooms better and bigger, added more community meeting rooms, a nature experience area, a bird observation station, and the gift shop.
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Special Recognitions
The Nature Center has received many important awards and titles:
- In 1971, the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior named it a National Environmental Education Landmark. It was one of the first places to get this recognition!
- It's also called a National Environmental Study Area by the Park Service. This is because it offers unique learning chances with its many different natural habitats in a city setting.
- In 2003, the Audubon Society said it was an Important Bird Area for the whole world.
- After updating its buildings in 2003 using sustainable (earth-friendly) methods, the Nature Center won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2004 Energy Star Award for being great at saving energy.
- In 2006, the National Wildlife Federation certified the Nature Center as an official Wildlife Habitat site.
- The Nature Center is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
