Whether it's the sprawling trails, bustling wildlife, or trees towering above, Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield takes visitors on wilderness journey that almost makes you forget the 150-acre oasis is just minutes away from downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul.
The haven for migrating birds and destination for those eager for a breath of fresh air is getting a boost after Richfield voters last week approved a half-cent sales tax increase that looks to raise $65 million for a trio of projects, including a new community center, updates to Veterans Park, and a new educational facility at Wood Lake Nature Center.
The educational facility looks to replace the center's current building, which welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually.
"The project will start in spring of 2025 and run through 2026," said Karl Huemiller, Richfield's Recreation Services Director. "We'll take down the old building and put up a new building that meets the needs of the community with a lot more education space, event space, and it will have a new exhibit space that's more interactive and engaging which will meet modern accessibility requirements."
Wood Lake Nature Center received a $3 million Community Project Funding grant to help support the new educational center. The project also received $12 million from the Minnesota Legislature, setting the stage for the local sales tax referendum to be place in front of voters on November 5th.
"The state money needed matching money, so we looked into the best way to fund something like this," Huemiller said. "Because it's such a regional facility, we get a lot of use from south Minneapolis, Bloomington and Edina that come into Wood Lake Nature Center. We thought it should be paid for in a way that all the users help to fund it."
In total, the Wood Lake Nature Center ballot question asked for up to $11 million, while the Veteran's Park project asked for $9 million, and the new community center asked for up to $45 million.
The pool line will see the biggest improvement Veteran's Park, which according to Huemiller, hasn't been replaced since since the pool was built six decades ago.
The Veteran's Park ballot question received the most approval with 69.73 percent of voters voting in-favor of it. Work at the park's expected to begin with the pool in 2025 and into to the 2026 season.
Additional work will be spread out into the 2027.
"We'll be replacing that so it can go another 40 or 60 years into the future as well. The other improvements will include redoing the walking trails which have a lot of bumps, we'll repave those so they're nice and smooth. We'll be improving the pavilion mini golf area, redoing the roofs their, and enhancements to the bandshell. We'll also be redoing the lobby of the ice arena which was last done in the 1980s."
WCCO Radio's Mark Freie highlighted Wood Lake Nature Center as part of WCCO's One Tank Trip series in 2022. That story can be found here.