By Danny Bernardini/ DBernardini@TheReporter.com
Posted: 01/30/2009
Paint, electrical and landscaping crews were busy Wednesday at The Lake Solano Nature Center. The center located on the southwest side of the Putah Creek bridge on Pleasants Valley Road is scheduled to open this spring and is nearing completion. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
Planned to be a tourist hub to attract guests young and old to the area, the Lake Solano Nature Center is getting closer to opening its doors to the public.
Electrical workers and painters said they would be wrapping up their jobs today, while work on the building's empty interior and landscaping will continue until it opens sometime in spring.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a piece public art for the center, a large sculpture highlighting several environmental aspects of the area. It will stand in front of the center.
Artists Diane Ullman and Donna Billick were chosen after their 12-foot "totem pole" free-standing creation was judged to reflect the history, flora and fauna of the area.
Starting with a base of the threatened pond turtle, the artists included an oak tree ball, an Indian basket, a large ball of blue water, topping it with a multicolored Swainson's hawk. The elements of the piece get larger as it gets taller.
The Lake Solano Nature Center, scheduled to open this spring, is nearing completion. The $1.6 million project will consist of 5,000 square feet that will house educational exhibits, meeting space and a new office for park rangers. (Rick Roach/TheReporter.com)
Ullman, who has lived near and visited the park for years, said the piece would not only be art but it would also be an educational tool, teaching visitors about the lay of the land and the area's history.
"It translates the natural balance with our hands to visual literacy," she said.
At 5,000 square feet, the nature center sits at the opening to the campgrounds near the end of Pleasants Valley Road in Winters. Costing $3 million, it will house 4,000 square feet of exhibit space, along with offices for park rangers and storage space, said Dan Sykes, Solano County Parks Services manager.
The center will offer a wide variety of educational components, Sykes said, including an aquarium featuring native species and even help toward water safety. Sykes said he also hopes the center will become a meeting place for volunteers, park stewards and field trips to the area. He said his agency may also may be able to rent the area to make some money for the parks.
