groundbreaking cmnhCleveland — The Cleveland Museum of Natural History will host a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Perkins Wildlife Center & Woods Garden. The special event will commence the Museum’s Centennial Project, a major expansion and renovation of the Museum’s campus. The groundbreaking will be held Monday, June 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Museum, 1 Wade Oval Dr., University Circle.

The Museum’s leadership and trustees, as well as Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson, are slated to share inspiring remarks about the vision for this new Museum visitor attraction and their personal connection to the nearly century-old institution. The celebratory event will include live animal encounters with the native Ohio animals that will call the new Perkins Wildlife Center “home.” The animals have come to live at the Museum due to injury or abandonment and have survived through human intervention.

The new Perkins Wildlife Center & Woods Garden will be a vibrant and intimate outdoor gallery shared with native plants, animals and birds. The Wildlife Center allows visitors to be immersed in nature while remaining in the city, to see native Ohio plant species and animals up close, and interact in exciting ways with these living animal ambassadors.

The center will feature unique animal encounters, including:

  • Bobcat Experience
  • Otter’s Pool
  • Songbird Aviary
  • Coyote Experience
  • Five Natural Areas featuring native Ohio plants

Through playful exhibitions and new techniques in animal care, animals and people will be able to intermingle. There will be multiple opportunities for up-close viewings of animals and birds. Perkins demonstrates the abundance and resilience of Ohio’s natural wildlife. It will also tell conservation stories and nurture understanding of the consequences of human actions on wild animals.

The Museum’s current Perkins Wildlife Center and Woods Garden, is a 2.2 acre outdoor gallery. It will be the site of a new 300-space parking garage.  The construction of the Perkins Center and garage are part of Phase 1 of the $150 million Centennial Project, which is expected to be completed by 2020, the Museum’s centennial.

WHAT: Groundbreaking Ceremony:  Perkins Wildlife Center & Woods Garden. Special event to commence the Museum’s Centennial Project.

WHO: Museum leadership, trustees and legislators, including Mayor Frank Jackson. Live animal encounters with Ohio animals that will call the new center “home”.

WHEN: Monday, June 15, 2015 – 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE:The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Front Lawn. 1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle