OCEAN VIEW, DE -- The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) unveiled a new education campus at the James Farm Ecological Preserve Friday morning. CIB leaders said the campus hopes to inspire local interest in the outdoors.
The campus features a main education building, an amphitheater with seating, a maintenance building, and a habitat restoration staging area. Officials said the project has been in the works for roughly six years and has taken both federal and state funding to bring the project to fruition.
CIB Director of Outreach and Education Lisa Swanger told WBOC the new facility will help improve their education program.
"They get to be out here and be immersed in nature, and this building allows us to do it for three seasons without worry of thunderstorms," Swanger said.
Swanger said she hopes classes held at the facility will inspire neighbors of all ages.
"It's a hands-on nature-based experience. It gets to the heart and the importance of why we need to protect these eco-systems," Swanger said. "For someone to come out here and build personal connections in nature in their own, unique ways, that's where the magic happens."
Swanger said she hopes that inspiration will then turn into action.
"Making sure that everyone has that opportunity to connect inspires more engagement," Swanger said. "It goes from just awareness, then to personal connections, then to action."
CIB Executive Director Christophe Tulou told WBOC it's currently a critical time for resources like their new education campus.
"This environment of ours is in a bit of a race. It's in a race between changing climate and increased development pressure in Eastern Sussex," Tulou said. "You're not going to love something you don't understand, and you're not going to understand it if someone's not teaching you."
Tulou said the CIB has been at risk of losing upwards of 60% of its funding due to recent federal funding cuts. Tulou said he hopes neighbors will grow personal connections to the outdoors through their resources.
"This is a local place. It's a local effort. It's a local process," Tulou said. "It's possible that the federal government will step away from the table, and if they do that, then we would definitely need that local support in a big way."
Swanger said they are awaiting shipments of chairs and other equipment to begin using the education campus. The center is expected to be able to use the facility this season, and they hope for the first classes to be held in the building within the next few weeks, according to organizers.