Tallgrass continues with improvements
Visitor Center should be completed by summer
By Russ Morgan
Saturday, January 7, 2012
With construction continuing at its new visitor center, a new maintenance building in the works and continuing development of programs and services, the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is looking at a bright future.
Since its groundbreaking in 2010, the preserve’s new visitor center has taken shape, and is expected to open sometime this spring, according to Wendy Lauritzen, superintendent of the preserve. The center will contain office space as well as areas for education and displays regarding the preserve. The maintenance building, located at a former auto dealership in Strong City, will allow for storage of equipment currently being sheltered in the preserve’s historic barn.
“It’s being built in a way that will minimize its impact on the view,” Lauritzen said of the visitor center.
Minimizing features include small windows to cut down on glare and a low profile with a grassed-over roof. The building also will be energy-efficient, with geo-thermal heating and state-of-the-art features of green construction. The building will be faced in stonework to match the natural features of the prairie.
“The design of the building is so it will blend with the stonework of the historic buildings, but at the same time it’s different enough so that you don’t confuse this for being a historic structure,” Lauritzen said.
The new maintenance building will give the preserve a prime location just off Highway 50, providing advertising opportunities to travelers. Plans are in the works to install a kiosk directing interested parties to the preserve, and the building will be developed into a contact station to provide information about the preserve.
“Three years ago, the community did an “Imagine Chase County” public program,” she said. “The community identified this building as the prime place to have a visitor’s center/contact center, something to get people to stop from Highway 50. A place to stop, ask questions, maybe get directed downtown, wherever. This helps meet some of that need, to help get people to stop, because what we did find is that people keep going on and never quite make the turn.”
Passersby will be able to stop by the center to learn about what is offered there, and the maintenance building also will provide space for offices and equipment storage.
Staff at Tallgrass is also excited about the maintenance building because it will allow for storage and maintenance of equipment during the off season.
“We will be able to do a lot of things in the wintertime,” she said. “Maintaining our equipment, putting things together, getting ready for the season versus having a place to do it with our historic structures and doing a last-minute scramble to get things ready. This is going to really improve our efficiency.”
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve offers a variety of programs, from educational tours to special events. There are over 40 miles of hiking trails that are open 24 hours a day year-round. One relatively new feature of the preserve is its bison herd, which started with 13 bison brought in from Montana in 2008. Since then, the herd has increased by three, with two being born last year.
“We figure it’s going to take about 10 years for the herd to get to maximum size before they have to be thinned down,” Lauritzen said.
Other items of historic interest include over 30 miles of dry stone fencing.
“Dry stone stacking of fences is a very specialized skill,” she said. “Very few people have that training and background. They’re used to working with mortar but they’re not used to working with dry stone.”
For more information on the programs, activities and services offered at the preserve, visit its website at www.nps.gov/tapr.