STONE HARBOR, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — An environmental center at the Jersey Shore is pulling up stakes after Labor Day to rebuild after repeated tidal flooding.
The Wetlands Institute is closing the Stone Harbor headquarters where it’s been for the last 55 years. Executive Director Dr. Lenore Tedesco said the Institute’s Salt Marsh Trail and the surrounding ecosystem have been affected by rising sea levels.
“That trail in 2000 flooded twice a year. Now it floods almost 70 times a year,” Tedesco said.
So now the Institute, which is visited by 14,000 schoolkids each year, is moving in with the nearby New Jersey Coastal Conservation Center while dredge materials are brought in to make the trail a few feet higher.
“We need to leave the site for the construction. So we’re basically going to close the institute and temporarily move our operations to a site we’re sharing with New Jersey Fish and Wildlife,” Tedesco said.
Tedesco said fundraising is underway to replace the legacy building, which will remain open until Sept. 7.
