It was all treats and no tricks as the District, Polk County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection celebrated the grand opening of Polk’s Nature Discovery Center at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Halloween.
“This twenty-first century facility will give children who are not exposed to the environment an opportunity to touch and feel nature,” said David Moore, District executive director.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests toured the Nature Discovery Center and the reserve.
The Nature Discovery Center is an environmental education center that features interactive displays that will be used to educate thousands of middle school students and the public each year. The District’s Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Peace River basin boards cooperatively funded three of the exhibits, including displays featuring the Green Swamp, water systems and central Florida lakes.
The center’s interactive exhibits convey the importance of water and its role in our environment.
The reserve was jointly purchased by the District and Polk County’s Environmental Lands Program.
Polk’s Nature Discovery Center at the Circle B Bar Reserve is located at 4399 Winter Lake Road (S.R. 540) in Lakeland. The entrance is approximately two miles east of U.S. Hwy. 98. For more information, please call (863) 534-7377.