Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve – Nature Center
The Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve exists to promote environmental ethics through education, recreation and conservation. The organization’s former nature center building was outdated and unable to meet its current needs. In particular, the preserve could not accommodate the many K-12 school groups that wanted to utilize its resources simultaneously. To replace the existing facility, the construction manager, Faith Technologies, hired Boldt as the general contractor.
The new multi-story building includes a gift shop, conference rooms, open patios, two fireplaces with seating, a toddler play area and a cafe. This additional space allows the nature preserve to serve more people and provide additional services, including snowshoe and cross-country ski rentals, and public event space for weddings, benefits and corporate events.
Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve
Appleton, Wisconsin
Ayres Associates
General Contractor
New Construction
18,000 SF
Project Highlights
- The Nature Center features a number of sustainable elements, including a microgrid to provide clean energy, eco-friendly building materials and power sources that include a 200kW solar field, 100kW lithium-ion battery, microturbine, 60kW natural gas generator and a 30kW hydrogen fuel cell.
