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Nature Education Center

Outdoor Education Building 

The Nature Center is the hub for our Outdoor Education programming at Camarillo Grove park. The Center is open to the public during normal park hours, unless being utilized for a program or event. This facility includes interpretive signage along a trail that provides information about our local ecosystems, flora and fauna; interactive water table; teaching deck for programs; nature-based play equipment such as boulders, logs, ant hill, and more; as well as native gardens with braille signs. 

 

Background

This project was funded by our Foundation for Pleasant Valley Recreation & Parks. From 2017-2024, they raised $65,000 to support the District with building the Nature Education Building. The purpose is to help increase Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District's Outdoor Education programming at Camarillo Grove Park's Nature Center. The building plays a vital role in providing environmental and nature education to the community through and average of 36 classes and hikes combined annually. 

 

New Nature Education Buidling! 

The  structure will be  used during the District's Outdoor Education classes. It holds taxidermy animals and fossils inside along with a 55" TV and educational materials. 

 

Progress

Timeline Status
Phase I: BidFoundation board and Board of Directors approved Tuff Shed bid on June 1, 2022.
Phase 2: Demo Inspections & DemoAsbestos and lead inspection on current structure was performed on July 1, 2022. RFP for removal of lead paint was approved on July 18, 2022 and was completed on July 26, 2022.  A demo permit approved by the County of Ventura on August 1, 2022. The garage structure was torn down by a group of volunteers on October 1, 2022. 
Phase 3: Permit Blueprints were received from Tuff Shed on August 18, 2022 and submitted to the County of Ventura for a build permit.  On June 6, 2023, plans were approved.  Permit and clearances were received on August 1, 2023.  
Phase 4: ConstructionConstruction took place September - April 2024
Phase 5: CompletionCompletion and Grand Opening was held on April 20, 2024

 

Partners

The Foundation partnered with organizations to help support our cause. The Foundation received a $1,000 environmental grant from Amber's Light Lions Club to help purchase two display cases for the taxidermy animals.  Lauterbach & Associates Architects Inc. partnered with us on blueprints, plans and the permit process. B&B Do-It Center donated $1,500 of supplies to help with construction and finishing touches. Visit Camarillo sponsored multiple fundraiser events throughout the 7 years which helped us raise more funds for the project.

Stylized orange figures of a family running on a green path with a tree, representing health or a family activity event.
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Lauterbach & Associates
A logo with "B&B" and tools like a wrench, hammer, paintbrush, and a dripping glue bottle, suggesting a hardware or repair business.
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Project Photos

May contain: nature, outdoors, housing, building, shelter, countryside, rural, house, hut, shack, and cabin
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May contain: person, human, pants, clothing, apparel, jeans, denim, shoe, and footwear
May contain: road, outdoors, gravel, dirt road, tree, and plant
May contain: person, human, clothing, apparel, pants, grass, and plant
May contain: animal, coyote, mammal, canine, dog, and pet
May contain: neighborhood, architecture, building, outdoors, shelter, pickup truck, transportation, truck, vehicle, city, road, street, urban, plywood, wood, and housing
Under-construction wooden structure with concrete floor, unfinished walls, and construction materials around.
Fresh concrete foundation with wooden forms, traffic cones, and construction area amidst greenery under blue sky.
Construction workers, a cement truck, and rebar framework for a concrete pour.
A building with a particle board exterior and three windows.
Workers smoothing wet concrete in front of a house.
Concrete foundation with rebar, retaining wall in progress, person in background, surrounded by greenery.
Workers are pouring and smoothing concrete near a house with greenery around.
Workers prepare a rebar framework for concrete in a construction site.
A new wooden building with a garage door, caution tape, construction cones, a hill in the background, and a blue sky.
An unfinished room with insulation, construction tools, and a ladder.
Workers installing drywall in a garage with tools and a ladder.
Two men working on a building exterior, one on a ladder, possibly installing or repairing equipment.
An empty garage with an open door, concrete floor, and small windows.
A person examining or working on a beige outdoor shed wall.
An empty garage interior with sunlight streaming through a door and two windows.
Two people painting a shed outdoors with rollers, one bending down, in a sunny environment.
A person painting a garage, paint supplies on the ground, open garage door.
A beige garage with a black double door under a cloudy sky.
A beige shed with black-trimmed doors, concrete ramps, and a green hill in the background.
A beige storage shed with black-trimmed double doors, outdoor lighting, and a gable vent, set against a backdrop of greenery and hills.
A white house, detached garage, driveway, and green hills under a cloudy sky.
A small beige building with a black door and skylights, situated on a concrete foundation with retaining wall blocks.
May contain: nature, outdoors, housing, building, shelter, countryside, rural, house, hut, shack, and cabin
May contain: housing, building, roof, cottage, and house
May contain: housing, building, nature, outdoors, house, shelter, countryside, rural, and cabin
May contain: wood, person, human, and soil
May contain: person, human, shoe, clothing, footwear, apparel, wood, nature, yard, and outdoors
May contain: pants, clothing, apparel, shoe, footwear, person, human, wood, jeans, denim, and plywood
May contain: person, human, shoe, clothing, footwear, and apparel
May contain: person, human, shoe, clothing, footwear, apparel, vehicle, transportation, wheel, machine, wheelbarrow, and barrow
May contain: person, human, pants, clothing, apparel, jeans, denim, shoe, and footwear
May contain: road, outdoors, gravel, dirt road, tree, and plant
May contain: person, human, clothing, apparel, pants, grass, and plant
May contain: animal, coyote, mammal, canine, dog, and pet
May contain: neighborhood, architecture, building, outdoors, shelter, pickup truck, transportation, truck, vehicle, city, road, street, urban, plywood, wood, and housing
Under-construction wooden structure with concrete floor, unfinished walls, and construction materials around.
Fresh concrete foundation with wooden forms, traffic cones, and construction area amidst greenery under blue sky.
Construction workers, a cement truck, and rebar framework for a concrete pour.
A building with a particle board exterior and three windows.
Workers smoothing wet concrete in front of a house.
Concrete foundation with rebar, retaining wall in progress, person in background, surrounded by greenery.
Workers are pouring and smoothing concrete near a house with greenery around.
Workers prepare a rebar framework for concrete in a construction site.
A new wooden building with a garage door, caution tape, construction cones, a hill in the background, and a blue sky.
An unfinished room with insulation, construction tools, and a ladder.
Workers installing drywall in a garage with tools and a ladder.
Two men working on a building exterior, one on a ladder, possibly installing or repairing equipment.
An empty garage with an open door, concrete floor, and small windows.
A person examining or working on a beige outdoor shed wall.
An empty garage interior with sunlight streaming through a door and two windows.
Two people painting a shed outdoors with rollers, one bending down, in a sunny environment.
A person painting a garage, paint supplies on the ground, open garage door.
A beige garage with a black double door under a cloudy sky.
A beige shed with black-trimmed doors, concrete ramps, and a green hill in the background.
A beige storage shed with black-trimmed double doors, outdoor lighting, and a gable vent, set against a backdrop of greenery and hills.
A white house, detached garage, driveway, and green hills under a cloudy sky.
A small beige building with a black door and skylights, situated on a concrete foundation with retaining wall blocks.