The National Eagle Center has announced their plans to expand their facility in Wabasha, Minnesota. The US$27 million project’s first phase will involve making upgrades to Big Joe Alley, the street between the main Eagle Center building and the Main Street buildings, and the open space to the north of the riverside building, the renovation of the Eagle Center’s riverside building, two of four Main Street buildings, adding a new large-vessel boat dock, adding community space and an amphitheater. Eventually, the expansion and renovation plan will add more exhibit and classroom space, especially for the Preston Cook collection and eagle art from local artists. It will also add more room to better care for an increasing number of live eagles.
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The second phase of the National Eagle Center expansion will include a larger entrance for the building and a large indoor auditorium. The center will shut down at the end of next month to accommodate the construction inside the building. It will reopen in the spring with a renovated space and new experience. In the meantime, twice as many tours than have been offered in the past to the Eagle Center are still available to offer on-site programming to educate visitors and to view eagles in their habitats.
“We’re proud to be improving access to our river park for the public enjoyment. This is not a local project. This is the National Eagle Center here in Wabasha Minnesota. Indeed it is our National Eagle Center because it is the world’s; and we are very fortunate in that. This gift is first and foremost to ensure our eagles have the care and respect they so deserve. It will also help the center evolve into an internationally recognized museum with quality exhibitions and programs,” said National Eagle Center CEO Meg Gammage-Tucker.
