For the first time in 30-years, there will be a construction project and expansion of Woodland Dunes Nature Center & Preserve in Two Rivers. A fundraising effort is currently underway for the better than $2-million dollar expansion according to Executive Director Jim Knickelbine. He said that they need to improve their parking area and expand their indoor space.
Hamann Construction in Manitowoc will be the contractor and Don & Ellen Lewellen are campaign co-chairs. Ellen says over 135,000 schoolchildren have come through programs at Woodland Dunes. Ellen said that they “draw children from Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties, but also Brown County and Outagamie County.”
Don Lewellen spoke with us about how the campaign is going, saying that they have “had some exceptional donors to kick us off…We have been talking to some very generous folks along the Lakeshore who have really stepped up in a big way.”
Heavy equipment for the project can be seen along Highway 310 and when it’s completed, upgrades will include a new entrance hallway to the nature center larger public meeting space from the existing one room to three..and a relocated Gift Shop and Reception Desk. Knickelbine explains construction site-work is underway and he estimates the expansion will be finished next April, weather-permitting.