December 21, 2005

Richard King Mellon Foundation Awards $3-million Grant for Powdermill Nature Reserve Sustainability Project

Pittsburgh ... Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh announced that the Richard King Mellon Foundation has awarded a $3-million grant in support of the Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project, which will transform Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve into the “nature center of the future.”

“The Foundation is pleased to be able to participate in the expansion and renovation of Powdermill Nature Reserve,” said Seward Prosser Mellon, President of the Richard King Mellon Foundation. “The new and upgraded facility will utilize environmentally friendly, sustainable technologies that, in turn, will attract an increasing number of visitors, particularly those who wish to see and learn about green design.”

Expansion and renovation at Powdermill, the 2,200-acre biological field station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, will begin in Summer 2006.

“We are thrilled to be the recipient of such a generous grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation,” said Dr. Bill R. DeWalt, Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “This project is central to Powdermill’s long-term strategic plan, and this will help the Reserve to become one of the best places in the world for research, education, and exhibits about conservation and applied ecology.”

“We are eager to get started on this ambitious project,” said Dr. David A. Smith, Director of Powdermill. “We have exciting plans for the future of the Reserve, and we are grateful to the Directors of the Richard King Mellon Foundation for the confidence they have shown in us with this most generous grant.”

The gift from the Foundation includes a “challenge” component that totals $1 million. For every dollar raised for the expansion and renovation project, the Foundation will match it with $2 up to $1 million. The Foundation intends this provision to help Powdermill raise additional funds from other donors for the project.

“In its nearly 50-year history, Powdermill has never had a capital campaign,” Smith said. “Because of the thoughtful manner in which the Richard King Mellon Foundation crafted this grant award, we will now have the ability to plan a comprehensive capital campaign for the Reserve and use a portion of this gift to help develop the support of other donor prospects throughout the region.”

The Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project will nearly quadruple the size of the existing Florence Lockhart Nimick Nature Center. Included in the additional space will be a “living machine” wastewater treatment system, geothermal heating and cooling, additional classrooms, flexible use space for hosting conferences, seminars, and special events, areas for permanent and traveling exhibits, and a hands-on exhibit with touchables for young nature center enthusiasts that will be modeled after Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s popular Discovery Room.

“To complement the expanded facilities, we will develop education programming focused on sustainable and green design for land owners and contractors, municipal and township personnel, political leaders, and homeowners,” Smith said. “And we will continue to develop new education programs for the thousands of school children and summer campers who visit Powdermill each year.”

A long-time supporter of Carnegie Museums, the Richard King Mellon Foundation was created in 1947 by Richard King Mellon, chairman of Mellon Bank, conservationist, and dominant figure in the financial, industrial, and civic life of Pittsburgh for many years. Among the largest independent foundations in the United States, the Foundation makes grants in five program areas, each with a southwestern Pennsylvania focus: economic development; conservation; education; children, youth and young adults; and human services and nonprofit capacity building.

Located in Rector, PA, Powdermill Nature Reserve was established in 1956 with a joint gift of land provided by General and Mrs. Richard King Mellon and Mr. and Mrs. Alan Magee Scaife. For nearly 50 years, it has served as the biological field station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, conducting long-term studies of native populations — their life histories, behaviors, and ecological relationships – and is the home of the nationally renowned Powdermill Avian Research Center. Approximately 87% of the environment of Powdermill consists of mixed deciduous forest, with dominant tree species including beech, yellow poplar, sugar maple, red oak, and hemlock-rhododendron riparian woodlands. The remaining area of Powdermill (13%) is characterized by managed grassland habitats. Nearly 95% of the Reserve’s 2,200 acres are protected by a conservation easement with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a collection of four distinctive museums: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. In 2004, the museums reached 1.5 million people through exhibitions, educational programs, outreach activities, and special events.

# # #