Discovery Center boardwalks need replacement; fund set up for donations

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson for the information in this story.)

During the last 36 years, the boardwalks at the Discovery Center have withstood the impact of thousands of visitor’s trampling feet while resisting the forces of nature that would turn them back into the dirt from which they came.

Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. The lumber is finally beginning to succumb, and the boardwalk needs to be replaced before it becomes a safety concern.

Tom Hodgson, a volunteer, says the section of boardwalk just prior to entering the bog is in the worst shape and it will be the first to be replaced.

The cost of the materials needed to replace the existing boardwalk is $5,000, and the Waterloo Natural History Association can provide about $2,000 toward the project, but the remainder of the costs will depend on the generosity of donors. Hodgson says it’s hoped that the funds can be secured in time to rebuild the boardwalk this spring, just in time for the many school field trips to the bog.

Here’s some of the center’s history:

The Waterloo Nature Center, as it was then called, was constructed overlooking Mill Lake in the eastern section of the park near Cedar and Mill Lake Outdoor Centers. The sight was also chosen because the surrounding habitats offer a microcosm of the ecological diversity found in the entire park.

Prior to construction, a master plan was created that included a comprehensive system of trails to provide public access to these unique areas, and some of the area’s fragile wetlands provided special challenges.

To provide safe access and protect these natural areas, nearly one quarter mile of boardwalk was constructed to the hardwood swamp and the tamarack bog.

The timing for the project was very fortunate, because in 1971, the State of Michigan received a gift of 3,000 acres of land for a new state park from the Federal Government at Fort Custer near Battle Creek.

On that site were several hundred old military barracks that had to be removed.  Crews of prison inmates were dispatched to the site and they took down the buildings board by board. Some of the lumber was then shipped to Waterloo to be used for the new boardwalks, it was sent off to be cut and pressurized.

And, once again, the timing of the project was fortunate because a federal work program created by the Comprehensive Training and Employment Act (C.E.T.A.) was just getting under way.

In 1975, the park secured a C.E.T.A. work crew from Washtenaw County that cleared all the trails and built the boardwalks, completing the work the winter of 1976.

Fast forward to 2012, and the boardwalks need to be replaced. So, the association has established a boardwalk fund and anyone who would like to donate to this project may send a check made out to the WNHA. Please designate it for the boardwalk fund, and mail it to the Discovery Center at 17030 Bush Road, Chelsea, MI  48118.

The Waterloo Natural History Association is a 501c 3 organization, so all donations are tax deductible within legal limits.

For more information about the history association, click here.