The Tom Ridge Environmental Center is an educational facility that is located on the grounds of Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Designed by Wallace, Roberts & Todd Architects, this environmental education center was awarded the 2007 President's Award for design-build projects in Delaware and Pennsylvania by the American Society of Landscape Architects. [1]
Named after former Governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, the center opened on May 26, 2006. [2]
It features 65,000 square feet (6,039 m2) [2] of space including interpretive exhibits highlighting local and regional flora and fauna, as well as information on the human history and culture of the area. The center also has a large-format movie theater, a gift shop, a cafe, a visitors' center, and an observation tower of 75 feet (23 m) [2] that overlooks Lake Erie and Waldameer Park and Water World. The facility also has five conference rooms and eight laboratories for environmental education and research of supporting organizations, plus the administrative offices of several environmental and conservation groups and agencies.
The center was designed by Wallace, Roberts & Todd Architects, and received the 2007 American Society of Landscape Architects President's Award for design-build projects in Delaware and Pennsylvania. [1]
The parking lot in front of the facility was previously occupied by a drive-in theater, the Peninsula, which opened in 1969 and closed in 2001 (five years before the environmental center opened).
Located next to the parking lot was a small wind turbine constructed in 2007. It was removed after several incidents in which ice chunks were flung from the blades and damaged the roof of the building. This also proposed threats to the public, especially in the parking lot.
Erie County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the northernmost county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,876. Its county seat is Erie. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803.
Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth-largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 at the 2020 census. The estimated population in 2023 had decreased to 92,732. The Erie metropolitan area, equivalent to all of Erie County, had a population of 270,876 as of the 2020 United States Census. The Erie–Meadville combined statistical area had a population of 354,814 at the 2020 census.
Millcreek Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The population was 54,065 at the 2020 census, making it the 14th-largest municipality in the state. and the largest township in Western Pennsylvania.
Thomas Joseph Ridge is an American politician and author who served in the George W. Bush administration as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003 and as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. He was the first person to hold either office. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001.
Erie Maritime Museum is a maritime museum located on Presque Isle Bay which rests on the waterfront in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania. It is managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). When it opened its doors on May 21, 1998, it became the first new Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission-affiliated museum in twenty years. Alongside its extensive indoor exhibits, it serves as the homeport for the US Brig Niagara, a modern recreation of the 1813-US Brig Niagara which served as Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's relief flagship during the Battle of Lake Erie. While the museum focuses on the War of 1812 in the "frontier", it is designed to celebrate Erie's rich maritime heritage.
Presque Isle State Park is a 3,112-acre (1,259 ha) Pennsylvania State Park on an arching, sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, 4 miles (6 km) west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's southern coast. It has 13 miles (21 km) of roads, 21 miles (34 km) of recreational trails, 13 beaches for swimming, and a marina. Popular activities at the park include swimming, boating, hiking, biking, and birdwatching.
Lyons is a New Jersey Transit station in Basking Ridge, New Jersey along the Gladstone Branch of the Morris & Essex Lines. The station serves south Basking Ridge as well as the Hills and Liberty Corner.
Erie Bluffs State Park is a 587-acre (238 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Girard and Springfield Townships, Erie County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is the largest undeveloped stretch of land overlooking Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. Erie Bluffs State Park is just north of Pennsylvania Route 5 near Lake City and 12 miles (19 km) west of Erie. It is one of Pennsylvania's newest state parks.
The History of Presque Isle Pennsylvania began when Presque Isle was created by the wave action of Lake Erie over the course of the 11,000 years that have passed since the last ice age. Presque Isle was likely 3 miles (5 km) west of its current location when it first formed. The constant pressure of wind and water has gradually moved the peninsula to its current location. It continues to slowly move eastward.
Stacy Levy is a sculptor who works with ecological natural patterns and processes, often using water and water flows as a medium. Many of her works address environmental problems at the same time that they make the functioning of the environment visible. Her studio is based in rural Pennsylvania, but she works on projects around the world.
Presque Isle Downs & Casino is a casino and horse racing track near Erie, Pennsylvania, owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc.
Transportation in Erie, Pennsylvania includes access to most major forms of transportation, including automobile, bus, train, taxi, airplane, and ship. The city generates income through the transportation industry, including train manufacturing and port operations.
Lake Erie Watershed is a major drainage catchment in northwestern Pennsylvania, United States, consisting of lands with direct runoff and sub-watersheds with waterways that flow into Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay from Crawford and Erie counties, as well as from New York. The watershed is part of the Lake Erie Basin.
David A. Wallace FAICP, AIA, PP was an urban planner and architect who co-founded, with Ian McHarg, the firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT).
WRT is an urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, and architecture firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WRT is a collaborative practice of city and regional planners, urban designers, landscape architects and architects with additional offices in San Francisco, Miami, Lake Placid, and Dallas.
Karl W. Boyes was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
The Roar on the Shore was a motorcycle rally that took place in Erie, Pennsylvania and North East, Pennsylvania.
The Doyle Community Park & Center, located in the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, is a 170-acre (69 ha) landscaped urban park and open space reservation managed by The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization. It is also the location of the Doyle Center: a conservation education center, regional office, and green building initiative. The property consists of three main areas: Pierce Meadow, a landscaped urban park and former estate of Harry W. Pierce; the Doyle Center grounds, buildings, and adjoining woodlots; and a hay field and adjoining wetland.
42°06′36″N80°09′14″W / 42.1100°N 80.1540°W
