The Day: Old Lyme nature center focuses first on the kids

Elizabeth Regan, Staff Writer for The Day, recently visited the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center to learn more about the latest happenings on the property of the former Bee and Thistle Inn. 

Read an excerpt of the article:

“Director Alisha Milardo during a recent tour said the new children’s center and improvements to the grounds represent ongoing efforts to bring the center’s conservation and education mission to a wider swath of the population along the lower Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

“We’re here to protect and conserve southeastern Connecticut: the wildlife, the habitats and the environment,” she said.

In late 2020, the center purchased the 5.25-acre inn site with a 1756 main house and a 1935 cottage steeped in history and river views. Milardo said the gardens, trees, wetlands and water provide dedicated access to an outdoor classroom where learning about ecology is “fun, hands-on, and joyful.”

The organization’s mission, forged in 2015 and honed in an office in a Halls Road shopping plaza, quickly outgrew the available space at a time when facilitators were bringing nature instruction to 5,000 people in schools and outdoor locations across the region.

Now, she said, the goal is to deliver programming to 10,000 people when the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025.”

Read the full article here: Old Lyme Nature Center Focus is on the kids – The DAY