Ecological oasis of learning, discovery

Springs Preserve set to open in mid-2007

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By JAN HOGAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

All you have to do is look around to see the Springs Preserve's commitment to building an eco-friendly attraction.

The beams are from re-compressed, recycled wood. The rafters were railroad ties, and commercial-grade straw bales are stuffed in the walls for insulation.

Some buildings look like they're made from rock, but are really soil-based. Solar panels will lower the dependence on electricity. Built-in architectural measures like heat towers will conduct hot air away from the rooms.

The builders of the preserve are so meticulous about choosing the proper materials and incorporating desert-savvy measures in their buildings, they expect to earn the government's top Leadership Energy Environmental Design rating.

"We're not doing this to get tax incentives like you'd see in the private sector," said Jesse Davis, marketing representative for the educational attraction that teaches people about living in tandem with the desert. "It's the nature of our organization."

If all goes as expected, the preserve will be awarded the LEED Platinum rating, the highest kind possible, but not until the attraction has been operational for a full year.

The Las Vegas Valley Water District controls the 180-acre site, slated to open sometime in the spring of 2007. A specific date could not be nailed down as there are a series of requirements to be met, each one requiring its own inspection process.

Meanwhile, the push is on to create a one-of-a-kind experience the whole family will appreciate. About 300 workers swarm over the project each day. There are now portable generators, sky jacks and power tools blaring away, but when it's finished, there will be nothing but the serenity of the desert.

Visitors will leave the parking area to enter the facility via a peaceful, winding path. They will be surrounded on both sides by 25-foot-tall man-made cliffs with the sounds of birds and perhaps chattering ground squirrels breaking the silence. It seems to set the scene for the many experiences the preserve will feature.

An amphitheater will be used for festivals and concerts. An indoor theater similar to an IMAX experience, will present features on various topics. Many exhibits will be interactive, with some wired to automatically present information on cell phones equipped with screens.

Planned interactive exhibits include a pollination game using touch screens, a plate tectonics exhibit, where visitors determine which plates move and see the results of that decision, and a night-goggle effect to learn about nocturnal animals, such as the kit fox, scorpion and helomonster.

At least one other exhibit will take up a whole room. Once the doors close, it will immerse people into the middle of a flash flood. It includes more than 5,000 gallons of water racing toward the unsuspecting visitors, part of a seven-minute-long show.

"They might get a drop or two on them, but they won't get drenched," said Jay Nichols, general curator.

The intent of the preserve's exhibits, Davis said, is not meant to rival the glitz of other Las Vegas attractions, but to be educational on many different levels.

"The 'wow' factor will be the depth of the history we show at the preserve," he said.

He said children will like the New Frontiers section of the museum, where almost every exhibit is hands-on. Live animals that dwell in the desert will be part of the exhibits, as will the animal husbandry section.

Youngsters on school field trips will be common sights at the Springs Preserve. Davis said the goal is to see every Clark County student visit the facility three times before they graduate.

The preserve is an ongoing project for archeologists. As guests watch, they will be digging at ancient American Indian sites as they search for clues in the area's 5,000-year history.

A 2 1/2-mile Nature Walking Trail winds around the attraction.

The Desert Demonstration Gardens is moving on property, using rescued yucca plants and palms at its botanical garden in its bid to be ecologically responsible. It will offer a year-round class and workshop schedule.

There will be landscaping computers and a reference library, as well as a studio for technical, hands-on training.

"We can set up an entire irrigation system, turn it on and see how it operates," said Peter Duncombe, gardens curator. "Or maybe we'll have a planting class and really make a big mess."

In 2008, the Nevada State Museum will join the preserve.

The Water District offers a virtual tour of the Springs Preserve online at www.springspreserve.org.