The Wild Center, formerly known as the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, is a natural history center in

Tupper Lake, New York Tupper Lake is a town in the southwest corner of Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 5,971 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village called Tupper Lake. Until July 2004, the town was known as "Altamont", not to be ...

, near the center of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state's

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a part of New York's Forest Preserve in northeastern New York, United States. The park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”, and for watershed protection. The park ...

Exhibits

The center mixes up the indoors and outdoors on a trail-filled campus. The center opened Wild Walk in 2015, a thousand feet of bridges and platforms that rise up and eventually over the forest on the center's campus. In addition to the outdoor experiences there are five primary indoor exhibit areas, The Pataki Hall of the Adirondacks contains The Living River Trail that circles the hall with live animal exhibits and a waterfall with the center's live otters. There are approximately 50 species of live animals at the center, many of them in habitats in this hall. The Big Wolf Great Hall contains a

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

and the glacial ice wall and is the site for the center's live animal encounters. The Naturalist Cabinet contains hands-on exhibits and collections. Other exhibit areas include the Flammer Panoramas Theater where films are screened, and Planet Adirondacks, an installation of the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

Science on a Sphere Science On a Sphere (SOS) is a spherical projection system created by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It presents high-resolution video on a suspended globe rather than a flat screen, with the aim of be ...

with shows focusing on the relationship between the Adirondacks and the rest of the Earth. The center features live exhibits and live animals, including river otters, birds, amphibians and fish. Indoors, a marsh appears to flow into a real pond that laps at the outside of the building, and the calls of live owls and otters mix with the splashing cascade of a trout-filled indoor stream. High definition films in a wide-screen theater explore the region and showcase fascinating reports from field scientists researching everything from moose to loons to alpine summits. The center also includes outdoor exhibits that take visitors into the ecosystems that surround the center. There are canoe trips available on the river that runs through its campus. Daily guided trail walks are also offered. The walks are on provided snow shoes in the winter.

Awards

The center was named a 2015 finalist for the National Medal, the nation's highest honor for museums in service of their communities. This center is the first

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

museum in New York. It earned a silver LEED award from the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

. The center has an extensive exhibit that details the LEED aspects of its facility.

Programs

The center plays a role in a range of Adirondack projects, sponsoring a community maple sugar operation, sponsoring an annual youth summit that brings college and high school students together to research climate impacts and develop campus action plans. It has partnered in this effort with the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), and

Heureka Heureka is a Finnish science center in the Tikkurila district of Vantaa, Finland, north of Helsinki, designed by Heikkinen – Komonen Architects. It is located at the intersection of the Finnish Main Line and the river Keravanjoki. The aim of th ...

Science Center in Finland.

Design

The building and the exhibits were designed by The Office of Charles P. Reay with Fish Partners and the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

architectural firm HOK. The Bio Building was designed by local architecture firm Phinney Design Group, based in

Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. It opened on July 4, 2006.

References

External links