Officials planning a nature center in the northern, forested boundaries of El Paso County recently presented adjusted concepts amid opposition.

“We’re definitely listening and responding,” the county’s parks director, Todd Marts, said during an open house at Bear Creek Nature Center.

Envisioned to be built among the pines of Fox Run Regional Park, Fox Run Nature Center is meant to extend the mission of the county’s other two nature centers to growing populations around Black Forest. Bear Creek Nature Center is more central to Colorado Springs, while Fountain Creek Nature Center is to the south — hubs for environmental education and inspiration, officials emphasized at the recent open house.

But the proposed building — complete with a “canopy tower” and elevated “canopy walk” — appears contrary to the county’s stated mission, critics have said.

In response to initial concepts presented early this year, an online petition garnered close to 1,200 signatures while outlining environmental concerns as well as feared impacts to traffic and safety for the surrounding neighborhood. In a letter to The Gazette, one accused the county of ignoring “those of us who advocate for appreciating nature by preserving it rather than by constructing an overpriced building and parking lot.”

Wrote another addressing critics: “I bet they didn’t have issues when virgin forest was cleared so their home could be built in the vicinity of the park. … The educational and informational opportunities the center will provide will serve to enhance the appreciation and understanding of the park for children and adults alike, thereby heightening the protection and stewardship they might provide.”

That’s the aim, Marts said, while pointing to changes in the plan. 

“We shrunk the size of the building considerably,” he said at the open house, where new concepts showed a total footprint of 9,531 square feet. The proposed parking lot showed 41 spaces, down from closer to 60 previously presented.

The orientation of the building has been switched from previous concepts and the location slightly shifted, Marts said. “To preserve some older trees that we really wanted to maintain but also to have that buffer for fire mitigation. You can’t have trees right next to a building. This was an area a little bit more on the road” in an already disturbed area.

The concept for the nature center remains to the north of Fox Run Regional Park’s main entrance off Stella Drive, past the gazebo and ponds. Marts was referring to an old road that is expected to be reclaimed, along with a nearby area damaged and eroded by the road.

“We’ll be planting more trees than we’ll be taking out, that’s the intent,” said Mark Tremmel, representing county contractor TDG Architecture.

Tremmel said the canopy walk would span about 340 feet through the pines, while the tower would reach 73 feet to the canopy crown.

“I’ve been up in a lift where we plan to put the tower,” Marts said, speaking to privacy concerns of neighbors. “I can tell you I can’t see any backyards.”

As to traffic concerns, “it’s a hard one,” he admitted. “Northern El Paso County is growing leaps and bounds. I can’t stop that.”

Officials have pointed to a traffic study — a document published 10 years after a 2013 master plan that showed public interest for a nature center on the county’s north side.

A 2019 feasibility study determined Fox Run Regional Park as the best location. That was “[b]ased on detailed site analysis, extensive public input, discussions with key stakeholders, thorough financial analysis and a desire for a site that inspires and captivates.”

The petition against the nature center deems that study inadequate and asks the county to halt planning and fundraising. Yet planning continues — more meetings are expected to be scheduled — while a more concerted fundraising campaign is needed, Marts said.

With donations, pledges and the county’s commitment, Marts said “we’re over a third of the way” to estimated costs between $10 million-$12 million. “I want to get the design down before we really dive into the campaign,” Marts said.

He said the goal would be to start construction in 2026.