Situated at the intersection of Spring Street and Route 6 – where once stood a building that housed a hardware store and then a café and suffered greatly from decades of hard use followed by years of neglect – there now stands a gleaming temple to environmental stewardship.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition celebrated the opening of its new Science and Field Operations Center with a gala reception on October 12. With boat shed doors wide open, members of land trusts from Wareham to Mattapoisett, benefactors, local government officials, and dedicated volunteers joined community members to see what the end result of several years of planning and fundraising had achieved.
Speaking before a crowd of approximately 200 people, Board of Director President Mark Rasmussen said, “With 250 water quality locations in and around Buzzards Bay, we needed a center in the center of our core area.”
He noted that the Coalition has grown and will continue to grow to meet the challenges facing the bay.
According to Rasmussen, the Coalition needed a place to store the wide variety of equipment used for the various scientific tasks, including water quality sampling spread over 80 miles – 3,000 acres of watershed managed by the Coalition. The Coalition’s boat, R/V Buzzards Baykeeper®, will also be housed in the new center.
“This facility addresses a critical need identified in our 2015 strategic plan to create the infrastructure to properly execute our mission,” Rasmussen told the crowd.
Marion is that central location, Rasmussen said, citing easy access to major highways and the Coalition’s other land holdings that are eight miles from Marion.
Science Director Rachel Jakuba told The Wanderer, “We’ll house our science operations here, training volunteers, house equipment, make sure the equipment is operating correctly.”
Jakuba said that from May through September, teams are sampling water, much of which is eventually sent to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for more in-depth analysis.
Rasmussen said the inspiration for the center’s design came from boatyard structures. The interior of the structure is cathedral-like with a soaring two-story space for the Baykeeper. A gallery surrounds the boathouse floor, and there are second floor offices and a first-floor science laboratory. Utilizing yellow Alaskan cedar and pine, the facility is bright and airy with clean lines and large windows that allow ambient sunlight to flow through the voluminous open space.
The site had presented some issues during the design phases, including stormwater drainage. Through the use of drainage lagoons, or rain gardens, and grassed parking areas versus impervious materials, stormwater is recharged into the groundwater system, Rasmussen explained.
Raumussen thanked Hutker Architects for a “utilitarian yet beautiful space,” and also thanked the Valle Group for construction of the building, and Lars Olson and Susan Nilson of Foth-CLE Engineering. He also thanked the Town of Marion and its permitting agencies for their assistance throughout the process.
The center is a green project, Rasmussen proudly announced, saying that the power will be derived 100 percent from renewable energy sources.
“No fossil fuels!” he said.
Regarding the nearly $2 million price tag, Rasmussen applauded the generosity of all the private donors – an effort lead by Dave Croll. He said that Croll had acquired the property nearly three years ago at auction and then donated it to the Coalition.
While there is still work to be done, including the installation of some 70 solar panels, relocation of a utility pole, and landscaping, the Coalition is well on its way to realizing its objective – a cohesive science and operations center for the advancement of programs dedicated to the protection of Buzzards Bay.
By Marilou Newell