At Long Last, Robinson Nature Center to Open in Late Summer in Columbia (UPDATED)

Nine years ago, Mark Raab and Anne Robinson walked 18 acres of land Robinson owned along Cedar Lane, just north of the Middle Patuxent River in Columbia.  

Robinson, an elderly widow and long-time resident of Simpsonville, told Raab that she wanted to see the land preserved.

Raab, superintendent of natural resources for Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, shared with her that Howard County had been contemplating building a nature center for years and was looking for an appropriate setting. 

Her land, he thought, would be ideal because it was near the historic Simpson Mill and adjacent to more than 1,000 acres of preserved land known as the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area.

After careful negotiations, Robinson agreed to donate her land to the James and Anne Robinson Foundation, which, in turn sold it to Howard County for $2 million. The Foundation then returned $1 million to the county as seed money for the construction of the center with the stipulation that it be named after the Robinsons.

Nine years later, the Robinson Nature Center is a few months away from opening at 6692 Cedar Lane in a 25,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, Platinum LEED-certified structure. In addition to the price of the land, the building cost approximately $15.4 million for construction and design, according to the county government.

Unfortunately, Anne Robinson died in 2005. 

“I wish she would have lived to see it,” said Raab.

“Anne would be thrilled by the nature center and the opportunities it provides for people to explore nature,” added Marianne Pettis, executive director of the Robinson Foundation.

Said Stacey Yankee, the center's director: “The place is jaw dropping before you even go inside.” 

Yankee, 40, relocated her family of four to Howard County from Troy, Mich., where she had been the director of that city’s nature center before being selected in a national search to be the Robinson Nature Center's first director.

She will supervise an initial staff of three, which she has yet to hire, plus dozens of volunteers needed to keep the facility running smoothly. The center's projected operating budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year is $237,000, according to the county government. 

Yankee's first day on the job was April 25.

“The focus in Troy was hands-on, immersion exhibits, and my vision for this place is the same, especially for children,” said Yankee. 

The center’s building is contemporary in style and boasts a large number of natural materials, including wood and stone. The floor of the main lobby includes a mural of the Chesapeake Bay. Just off the lobby is a gift shop and a “living room” complete with sofa and fireplace. The walls of the living room are covered with rough-hewn boards salvaged from the Robinson Family barn.

Clear story windows line the walls providing enthralling forest views. Two-thirds of the Robinson property was undisturbed by the nature center. In the future, nature trails with interpretive signs will traverse the center’s grounds, according to Raab.

At the far end of the lobby, the core of the three-story building includes a 3-D “tree” comprised of “leaves” – 143 panels with hand-painted nature scenes featuring local fauna. Down a flight of stairs, at the base of the tree, is a display depicting a mature forest, and a few steps beyond that is a “nocturnal room” featuring creatures of the night.

In addition, there is a digital planetarium, known as a nature sphere, on the lower level. Staff will be able to project constellations, as well as movies, on planetarium’s semispherical ceiling.

There are tentative plans to allow children to book the nature sphere for birthday sleepover parties where kids will be allowed to spend the night in sleeping bags on the floor “under the stars,” said Raab.

The center has numerous systems and components to make it environmentally sustainable, including porous pavement, 54 geothermal wells, “green” roofs and solar panels. The solar panels are designed to produce at least 12 percent of the building’s electricity and might yield as much as 17 percent, according to Raab.

Joan Lancos is the land use liaison for the community association in the nearby village of Hickory Ridge. “We can’t wait!” she said. “We think it’s a huge asset to our community.”

Lancos served on the Robinson Nature Center planning committee. “The way that Anne Robinson allowed this to happen was very fortuitous,” she said.

Howard County has committed to completing sidewalks along Cedar Lane from Freetown Road to the nature center so that residents living near the Hickory Ridge Village Center can walk to the nature center, according to Lancos. 

“It will be a feather in the cap of Howard County to have such a wonderful center for our residents. It’s going to be in the curriculum for every middle schooler in the county, and we hope that visitors will come up the street to our village center and support the merchants – restaurants and stores,” Lancos said.

“We think it would be great if the village center would gain businesses that would tie into the nature center theme.”

The nature center will probably open in late August or early September, according to Yankee and Raab. There will be a charge for admission, and memberships that include free admission will be offered. Pricing has not been determined.

“We’re coming to the conclusion of an exciting nine-year journey,” Raab said, “and the fun is about to begin.”

This article has been updated with more information on the cost of the center's construction and its budget.