A project that started as a dream roughly 25 years ago is coming to fruition as construction moves forward on the new Wild Bear Nature Center in Nederland.

The 8,500-square-foot, $14 million project will include an observation deck, classroom spaces, an outdoor amphitheater and a community gathering space. The new spot at 88 Indian Peaks Drive will allow Wild Bear to expand its programming, welcome more visitors and become a licensed forest preschool once it opens.

“There’s huge momentum going right now,” Wild Bear’s Director of Development Matthew Celesta said. “So we have a building, we’re finishing some of the most high-performance parts of that, which is part of our impact and our vision.”

A licensed forest preschool is an outdoor-driven preschool where the kids spend most of the time outside, so the nature center will include an outdoor play zone. The new nature center is also on 3,000 acres of protected land with 16 miles of trails. The center will be free and open to the public and could open in 2026 at the earliest.

In 2023, the nature center only had a foundation built into the ground. Now, the building itself has been constructed, and has a roof, windows and exterior walls. Inside, exposed wooden beams outline the building’s floor plan. Crews are in the middle of completing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing for the building. They’re also working on sprinkler designs and finishing up exterior siding and roofing. The entire building is expected to be completely closed in within about three to four weeks.

Hunter Harris is the general contractor on the project and operations manager of the general contracting company Harris Dewart LLC in Nederland. Harris said he and others working on the project believe in it. They want their kids to be able to use it, and they want it to be open to the community.

“It’s more than a paycheck for us,” Harris said.

The building is planned to be 100% electric and to produce more sustainable energy than it consumes, creating a net-positive footprint. The additional clean energy will go back to the grid for others in Nederland to use. The exterior is made of corrugated steel, which is fire-resistant.

“Now you (will) literally have a place to come, have a picnic with your family and really learn about nature,” Harris said.

Wild Bear’s mission is to inspire people to have a lifelong connection to nature and community. The new nature center will expand its ability to fulfill that mission, which Wild Bear founder Jill Dreves said is especially important as the world is facing the climate crisis.

“What will be the future for children and the planet?” Dreves said. “We have to do all that we can to be healthy as people, but we have to do all that we can to help nature be healthy in order for us to be healthy.”

The building also has bird-safe glass, which looks like normal glass with small pale white dots all over it. While the dots aren’t distracting to people, they appear very bright to birds, so they don’t run into the glass. Without the special glass, birds would be able to see through the whole building and try to fly through it.

The nature center will also be fully accessible to people with disabilities.

“Someone could come up here, if they’re utilizing a wheelchair, and can independently get into the building, get on the other side, enjoy the terraces, go to that observation deck and literally see the continental divide, all self-assisted using ADA compliance,” Celesta said. “That’s the access to nature that I find is limited in almost every neighborhood and everywhere around the world, and we’re putting it as a focal point of access for all.”

The nature center has raised more than $10 million out of the roughly $14 million needed for the project. To donate, visit gowild.wildbear.org.