“Quest” for Nature Education Brings New Center at Latta Preserve

Journey into the world of water at Mecklenburg County’s newest nature center, aptly named Quest, as the county’s nature centers open their doors full-time on September 7th. The brand new, 13,000-square-foot education center is a long time in the making.

“Quest is a whole new building — exhibits, program animals, education, programs — all there,” says Alice Chambers, Environmental Education Manager for Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation. “It’s a brand new nature center — but it’s more than a nature center.” Quest will be the new “front door” to the 1,460 acres of Latta Nature Preserve, which offers 16 miles of trails, native animal and plant species, and kayak and equestrian areas adjacent to Mountain Island Lake.

If you’re familiar with the old facility at Latta Preserve, Quest will be quite an upgrade. The former nature center called a 40-year-old ranger center home and lacked classrooms, adequate office space, and enough bathrooms (just one!)

“It was beyond its useful life,” remarks Chambers.

The new $8 million center has been a long time in planning. Funds to build it were part of the 2008 county bond referendum, which was delayed because of the economic recession. A revived economy and fundraising campaign brought plans for Quest back to life, along with a new Raptor Center facility.

COVID once again delayed the opening of the new facility, which was completed in December of 2019, but the nature center’s staff was able to move into the building and run summer camps in 2020 and 2021. The nature center portion of the building then opened on weekends in July, along with an expanded gift shop.

The Raptor Center is a partner in the new facility, with an expanded hospital and new Raptor Trail coming adjacent to the building.

“This is joint programming between Nature Center and Raptor Center,” says Chambers. “You can learn about hawks in the classroom, and then go out on the trail and see them.”

When visitors walk into the new Quest Nature Center, they’ll explore a world of water. And while Stevens Creek Nature Center in Mint Hill (also opening full-time September 7) explores the watershed that surrounds us — native creeks, streams, and habitats — Quest offers a zoomed-out view of the planet’s water ecosystem.

“It’s a bigger picture that nothing can survive without water — where does it come from, where does it go, what is groundwater, how water is used,” explains Chambers. “It’s still a water quality focus, though, because nothing survives without clean water.”

Exhibits detail a water cycle that shows our water is a continuous cycle of life. Water rains on the city runs off into the lake, evaporates into clouds, and becomes rain again. It’s a good reminder that water is neither created nor destroyed, but must be clean in order to be used as a resource.

“It’s all about appreciation for water, when you turn on the tap it comes from somewhere,” Chambers reminds us. “It may have been drunk by a dinosaur, or been in a tree.” Tell that to your preschooler!

After learning about local watersheds like woodland, prairie, lakeshore, and lake, visitors are treated to a look under the water’s surface right outside their door, in Mountain Island Lake. A 6,000-gallon tank, designed to look like “a big section of water out of Mountain Island Lake,” describes what you’d see in a deep dive underwater – both natural and manmade. Snakes, turtles, frogs, and fish thrive next to human-created trash and debris on the lake’s bottom.

And yes, Mountain Island Lake is where Mecklenburg County gets its drinking water.

There is a lot to explore at the new Quest Nature Center and adjacent Raptor Center, says Chambers. Educators can’t wait to show you!

“It has been a long time coming!” she says. “We are thrilled to have people back in the building.”

Plan your visit to Quest at Latta Preserve: https://www.thisisquest.org/