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caption, page 1:
The "topping off" tree, seen straight up through the cupola at the Audubon Society's Grasslands Center under construction off Day Road in Pomfret. More photos, page 6. Linda Lemmon photo.
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Topping-Off
Ceremony
The Connecticut Audubon Society's Grassland Bird Conservation Center should open by June. Left, the pink granite paperweights offered to supporters at the Nov. 19 ceremony. Right: The whole group of supporters stands at the center. Linda Lemmon photos.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET --- Rising.
From the bones of the 1895 barn that stood guard over the grasslands off Day Road, rises the new Connecticut Audubon Society's Grassland Bird Conservation Center.
Supporters and town officials Nov. 19 celebrated the "topping off" of the structure of the 5,000 square foot education center. For Sarah Heminway, director Northeast Corner Program, the new home "cannot open fast enough." Plagued by wet weather for the last month or so, she said the Audubon Society's after-school nature club has been meeting inside the much "too cozy" center off Rt. 169. "Every time I send the kids off, I think to myself, 'The new center can't open soon enough.'"
She said the light and airy center, which incorporates some of the beams from the original barn, will open in June and "will be put to good use."
Ben Williams, a founding member, thanked the supporters standing in the brisk sunshine. Always cajoling he said Audubon is always open to more support. He also complimented the town: "Pomfret gets it. The town of Pomfret raised the bar on conservation. People step up." The society has garnered some 400 gifts, he said, and less than $200,000 of the $2 million goal is left to secure.
The society's Pomfret center will be sold, Heminway said.
Bob Martinez, president of the Connecticut Audubon Society, said the grassland habitat is rapidly disappearing. The new center will bring people in and educate them, what grassland is.
Tony Mongillo, building committee chairman, said the 1895 barn that stood at the site was beyond saving, unfortunately. But some beams from the barn have been worked into the structure. "We salvaged everything we could," he said. The building process has been as low impact as possible --- "it's going to stay a grassland," Mongillo added. The new center sits in the society’s 700-acre Bafflin Sanctuary which was established in the mid-1980s.
Wally, a red-tailed hawk, soared over the ceremony, and supporters who know him were excited. "What a good omen for the center!"