[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 3, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





          CELEBRATING WOOD LAKE NATURE CENTER'S GROUNDBREAKING

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                            HON. ILHAN OMAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2025

  Ms. OMAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the City of 
Richfield, Minnesota, as they break ground on their renovation of Wood 
Lake Nature Center.
  Wood Lake Nature Center is one of Minnesota's first environmental 
education centers. Since 1971, the Center has been a destination for 
south metro residents looking to experience marsh, woodland, and 
restored prairie land in the heart of an urban setting. Over 100,000 
people visit the center each year, including 25,000 who go for 
programming like summer camps, group hikes, archery, wilderness skill 
training, birding, and more. On a daily basis, around three separate 
schools bring their students to learn about the natural world. It has 
become an invaluable resource to inner city students who otherwise may 
not have access to the preserved natural spaces and environmental 
education provided at Wood Lake Nature Center.
  While hosting such a diversity of guests and programs, Wood Lake 
Nature Center had found it difficult to keep up with rising demand. 
Their 4,000-square-foot visitors center had fallen into disrepair, and 
it couldn't adequately house all of the programs and visitors that have 
come to love the connection to nature they receive there.
  The City of Richfield embarked on a multi-year capital campaign and 
planning process to reimagine what the Center could be. They worked 
with the Science Museum of Minnesota on educational nature exhibits, 
talked with architects and contractors on the building design, and 
passed a ballot initiative to help raise funds. Voters overwhelmingly 
approved this new funding. I was also proud to secure a Congressional 
appropriation of $3,000,000 through Community Project Funding to make 
sure this project could move forward.
  Richfield's groundbreaking ceremony is a celebration of what is 
possible when community members, elected leaders, non-profits, 
businesses, and philanthropic groups work together and dream big. Next 
fall, thousands of Minnesotans will get to walk through the doors of a 
visitors center that is a fitting centerpiece to this incredible nature 
preserve. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Richfield, 
and the whole Wood Lake Nature Center team, on this remarkable 
achievement.

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