September 13, 2006

Powdermill Marks 50 Years With Launch of First-Ever Capital Campaign
Powdermill Nature Reserve announces a $7.5 million capital campaign to fund green buildings, expanded educational programming, and more

Rector, PA . . . In the beginning, it was "all about the restrooms."

David Smith, Ph.D., Director of Powdermill Nature Reserve in Rector, PA, knew his facilities were outdated and at capacity for the many programs that are offered. But it was the long lines of school children waiting outside to use the small restrooms that finalized for him the need to expand the Florence Lockhart Nimick Nature Center.

"Seeing the kids lined up visually reinforced what we've all known for years," said Smith. "While we offer many popular public and school programs, we don't have adequate facilities to accommodate our visitors."

To resolve the demands on its inadequate facilities, ground was broken on Sunday, September 10, for a building addition at Powdermill Nature Reserve, the biological research station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The event marked the public phase of the Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project, a $3.5 million initiative that will expand Powdermill's facilities in an environmentally responsible manner, including, of course, more restrooms.

"The expansion will be more than added restrooms," said Smith. "It will be a modern facility encompassing everything that Powdermill stands for: research, education, preservation, and community."

The Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project is part of the Campaign for Powdermill, a $7.5 million capital campaign that includes a building expansion and renovation project that will incorporate technologies that are energy efficient and derived from renewable resources. The balance of the campaign goal - $4 million - will provide critical endowment to support research opportunities and educational programs and secure the future of Powdermill's operations. It is the first capital campaign in the 50-year history of Powdermill Nature Reserve.

"The Campaign for Powdermill will advance the Reserve's mission to further understand the natural world and communicate that knowledge through research, exhibits, and educational programs," said Bill R. DeWalt, Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. "This initiative will enable Powdermill to build on its reputation as a leader in research and science-based education, focusing attention on the ecology and biodiversity of the mid-Appalachian Mountains and demonstrating how sustainable technologies can integrate the natural and built environments."

"There are two very appealing aspects of this project," said David Hillenbrand, President of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. " First, there are the expanded facilities that meet the needs of the scientific community and will allow us to fulfill the demand of educational programs for school children, adults, and families throughout the Laurel Highlands. The second is that nearly every part of the expansion is, in and of itself, an exhibit that provides an educational opportunity for all Powdermill visitors to see how green construction works and how easily it can be implemented in future construction projects."

The centerpiece of the Campaign for Powdermill is the Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project, which will result in a critically needed, environmentally responsible headquarters facility. The expansion will provide Powdermill with much needed space for a second multi-purpose classroom, a permanent exhibit hall, special exhibits gallery, improved administrative areas, butterfly and herb gardens, an outdoor classroom/courtyard, and, of course, restrooms, as well as other spaces that provide a bridge to the outdoors.

In the planning stages for more than five years, the expanded facilities will feature advanced technologies for wastewater treatment and geothermal heating and cooling, and will use proven green building materials and construction techniques. The goal is to model successful energy-efficient design in a rural setting, while providing expanded space for educational programs and research. A new marsh machine wastewater treatment facility will not only help resolve the pressing problem of adequate restrooms to accommodate large groups, but also will serve as a laboratory for studying natural wastewater management.

The expansion project also will create two permanent exhibits. A living stream utilizing wastewater treated by the new marsh machine will demonstrate the benefits of this natural process by showing that the plants and animals living in Powdermill Run can live happily in it. The second permanent exhibit will capitalize upon the years of research conducted by the Powdermill Avian Research Center by highlighting the Birds of the Ligonier Valley.

There also will be a new special exhibits gallery that will allow Powdermill to host traveling exhibits from around the world and bring Carnegie Museum of Natural History artifacts to Westmoreland County.

"I am very excited about the permanent exhibits and the special exhibit areas," said Smith. "The special exhibits gallery in particular will allow us to bring some of the spectacular collections of the museum to the backyard of the people of the Ligonier Valley."

The Campaign for Powdermill was kicked off in December 2005 with a generous $3 million lead gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in support of the Powdermill Sustainable Facilities Development Project. The grant included a $1 million challenge component: specifically, the Foundation will provide a 2:1 match of every dollar raised up to $500,000. An additional $250,000 challenge grant was provided by longtime museum Board Member and Campaign for Powdermill Committee Volunteer Paul G. Benedum, Jr. and will be used to attract new endowment gifts to Powdermill. Many donors have stepped forward with early support in response to these challenges.

"This is not just an expansion of the buildings," said Margot B. Woodwell, Chair of the Campaign for Powdermill. "It is an expansion of a legacy started 50 years ago." In addition to Margot Woodwell and Paul G. Benedum, Jr., other members of the Campaign for Powdermill Committee include Nancy McK. Armstrong; Jane Greer; James L. Parker; and Arthur M. Scully, Jr.

In addition to the nature center, Powdermill is home to the Powdermill Avian Research Center (PARC), now known nationally for the most extensive avian database in the country. The Reserve is also used as a teaching site for many university-based classes in field biology, a location for graduate and undergraduate biological research, and as a site where scientists from throughout the region and around the world conduct field research in ornithology, herpetology, botany, mammalogy, invertebrate zoology, and other natural sciences.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, welcomes 250,000 visitors a year and reaches another 150,000 through educational outreach programs. It is the third largest repository of dinosaur fossils in the world and its total collections exceed 21 million objects, specimens, and artifacts.

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