Mercer County Nature Center Marks Opening With Day of Festivities Saturday

Mercer County residents will get their first real glimpse of the county’s newest nature center during a daylong event on Saturday.

The Tulpehaking Nature Center, the educational gateway to the Abbott Marshlands, was dedicated Tuesday morning, Oct. 7.

Saturday’s daylong event begins at 10 a.m. at the Center, located at 157 Westcott Avenue in Hamilton.

The festivities begin with a Family Fun Day where families can meet live marsh animals, test their skills against beavers, explore with microscopes, and enjoy food, prizes and more.

“Mercer County is excited to expand its robust nature programs to our new Tulpehaking Nature Center,” Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes said. “This beautiful new classroom and meeting space adds an important recreational resource, especially for children from nearby Trenton, and will serve as a window to one of our richest natural habitats.”

Visitors to the Tulpehaking Nature Center will walk through a demonstration native plant garden filled with bluestem, switchgrass, blueberries and Joe Pye weed, plants that are indigenous to the Marsh.

There is a gazebo for group orientation and educational programs with rain barrels that collect runoff from the gazebo roof which allow for water reuse.

The Tulpehaking Nature Center will provide a focus for school groups as a destination for local students to become familiar with the natural landscape so that they can become the next generation of scientists, wetland managers and citizens with a full understanding of the importance of the watershed.

“We began by engaging the community in cleanups and canoe trips to create awareness about the significance of this natural and historic treasure in our backyard,” said Linda J. Mead, President and CEO of D&R Greenway Land Trust and a member of the Abbott Marshlands Stewardship Council. “That led to the dream of a place where people could come to learn and appreciate the special qualities of the Marsh.”

In 2006, D&R Greenway Land Trust helped to secure $500,000 in Green Acres funding from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a nature center, with Mercer County matching the funding.

“The Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program has long been committed to the preservation of the Abbott Marshlands,” said Richard Boornazian, DEP Assistant Commissioner, Natural and Historic Resources. “The Tulpehaking Nature Center will allow visitors to learn about the area’s historic, natural and recreational resources, which will lead to increased enjoyment of, and respect for, this regional gem.”

The original structure of the center was a three-bedroom, single-family ranch house sitting on one acre.

Many of the materials from the 1961 house were retained, such as hardwood flooring, a slate entryway and a fieldstone fireplace.

The center features sustainable bamboo flooring, wooden banquettes, a double-vaulted ceiling, large windows for bird watching and a screening room with an 80-inch LCD screen and seating capacity of 50.

There will also be a library, a display of Native American artifacts dug from the property, a laboratory with microscopes and rotating exhibits.

The Abbott Marshlands is part of the Circuit Coalition, a vision for 750 miles of bicycle and pedestrian trails connecting people in Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey to our natural resources.

The William Penn Foundation has supported the work in the Marsh for many years as part of its interest in water quality in the Delaware River Watershed, and the center was funded by a Green Acres grant awarded to D&R Greenway Land Trust and with the Mercer County Open Space Preservation Trust Fund.

The attached photo was provided by Mercer County: Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes cuts the ribbon Oct. 7 to officially open the Tulpehaking Nature Center in Hamilton. Pictured from left: Dennis Whigham, senior botanist, Smithsonian Institution; Linda Mead, executive director, D&R Greenway Land Trust; Kelly Rypkema, manager/naturalist, Tulpehaking Nature Center; Lisa Fritzinger, supervising planner, Mercer County; Donna Lewis, planning director, Mercer County; Kevin Bannon, executive director, Mercer County Park Commission; County Executive Hughes; Freeholders Pasquale Colavita and Ann Cannon; Jeanne Perantoni, CEO/architect, SSP Architectural Group; Freeholder John Cimino; Sen. Linda Greenstein; Assemblyman Daniel Benson; Mary Leck, Friends for the Marsh.