“Being around nature has always given me peace, so Fenner’s mission of nature appreciation and preservation drew me to serve on their board,” Fenner Board Treasurer and Jackson associate Jenina Halitsky said in the press release. “Fenner has reached capacity with all of their programs, and it limits how much we can focus on our mission.”

According to Halitsky, the expansion will offer five times the original space and allow the center to expand its programming.

Fenner Nature Center hosts more than 60,000 visitors annually. The grounds contain more than four miles of trails to explore and view native reptiles, amphibians, songbirds, deer and wild turkeys. 

“We really focus on inclusivity, so our prices reflect our desire for our community to have the ability to use this space,” said the center's development and events manager Alexa Seeger.

Some student organizations at Michigan State University have a long-term partnership with the nature center, including the Forestry Club, Herpetology Club and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program. In addition, East Lansing Public Schools use the nature center for programs, and they will all benefit from the increased space, Seeger said.

“It really gives students the opportunity to come here and relax,” Seeger said. "It is peaceful to be able to walk the trails, and the pavilions specifically will provide an off-campus place for meetings and events. It definitely is envisioned as a place for entertainment."

Most animals within Fenner Nature Center are wild and not taken care of by center staff, Seeger said. However, "animal ambassadors" like reptiles and amphibians are kept to facilitate school programs.

“(Animals) are drawn to the green space. We have 134 acres, so it really is a little refuge right here in the city,” Seeger said. “The only animals we have here on purpose are our animal ambassadors."

The pavilion will have a gallery space to hold art and ecology exhibitions. The first exhibition will look to deconstruct the divide between urban and wild spaces.

“We are in the city, so we definitely have a lot of conjunction of natural spaces with the more urban environment, so we are inviting artists to examine that juxtaposition and see how they interpret that — what meaning it has for them,” Seeger said.