The Trinity River Audubon Center is a nature center in the Great Trinity Forest, a large urban open space park in Southeast

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

History

The center was completed in 2008 on the site of a former illegal landfill called Deepwood. Federal Judge

Barefoot Sanders Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. (February 5, 1925 – September 21, 2008) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and counsel ...

resolved a lawsuit by issuing an order resulting in the creation of a nature center on the site. Prior to becoming an illegal dump, the site was a farm and then a gravel mine. The center was designed by

Antoine Predock Antoine Predock ( ; born 1936 in Lebanon, Missouri) is an American architect based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the principal of Antoine Predock Architect PC, the studio he founded in 1967. Predock first gained national attention with the La ...

an
BRW Architects
It is the first LEED-certified building constructed by the Parks and Recreation Department of Dallas and includes a

green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...

(planted), rainwater collection system, energy efficient systems, and recycled materials. Trinity River Audubon Center Walkway

Nature

The National Audubon Society has a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

and nature center in the building and its surroundings. The Great Trinity Forest urban park is located within the Texas Blackland Prairies

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s within it include bottomland hardwood forests,

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s, open water ponds,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

s, and the Trinity River itself. The center is part of the City of Dallas-Trinity River Corridor Project and consists of 120 acres. The center features five miles of nature viewing trails, a butterfly garden, outdoor picnic areas, an indoor event center, and several rentable conference rooms. The center also hosts community events, such as the annual farm-to-table outdoor dinner, Songbird Supper.

Trinity River Project

The center is part of the Trinity River Project, a public works project to redevelop the Trinity River in Dallas. The Trinity River Project includes other recreational amenities. There are other trails and parks along the Trinity River channel, including the Continental Avenue Bridge and the AT&T Trail. Connecting the Trinity River Audubon Center to a trailhead at Elam Road, the AT&T Trail is approximately 4.25 miles long.

References

External links

Official Trinity River Audubon Center website

BRW Architects website
Nature centers in Texas Museums in Dallas Parks in Dallas Trinity River (Texas) National Audubon Society Natural history museums in Texas Buildings and structures completed in 2008 {{Texas-struct-stub

History

Nature

Trinity River Project

See also

References

External links