Nahant Marsh Education Center is ecstatic to announce the successful completion of its $3.7-million capital campaign to “Connect, Protect and Grow the Marsh,” the Davenport nonprofit said in a Friday release.
The campaign, which started in 2019, was able to surpass its goal and raise $4.2 million. The funds will be used to build new trails, amenities, and signage that will allow people to access new parts of the nature preserve, the release said. A new operations building with offices and a classroom will be constructed. Expanded educational programs, as well as scholarships for field trips, will allow more people to access programming.
According to Nahant Marsh executive director Brian Ritter, the capital campaign will have long-lasting positive impacts for the Marsh, the river and for the community.
“We’ve already put some of this money to work. We restored a 39-acre crop field back to prairie and wetlands,” he said in the release. “We’ve begun constructing a trail spur that will connect Nahant Marsh to the Mississippi River Trail, and we have purchased a variety of research equipment that is being used by staff and interns to better study the Marsh.”
Campaign co-chair Cal Werner echoed that sentiment.
“This successful campaign will ensure the long-term future will be bright for the expanded and enhanced Nahant Marsh,” said Werner, who has served on Nahant’s board for many years.
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Curtis Lundy, Nahant Marsh board chair and campaign co-chair, was impressed by the incredible response from the community.
“I am stunned and delighted by the QCA’s community of individuals, organizations, companies and government entities voting with their hearts, minds and pocket books to help Nahant exceed its campaign goal,” Lundy said. “This achievement will allow us to connect, protect, and grow the marsh and the QCA community.”
The additional funds will provide a much-needed buffer to account for an unforeseen increase in construction-related expenses, the group said.
“We started this campaign prior to the pandemic. We are very fortunate to have had incredible community support that will allow us to deal with rising costs of building materials,” Ritter said. While trail work and ecological restoration has been ongoing, construction on the new building is slated to begin this spring.
The Nahant Marsh preserve is the largest urban wetland on the Upper Mississippi River. It is comprised of marshy areas, mesic, wet and sand prairie, and bottomland forest, according to its website. A spring-fed quarry, known as Carp Lake, and the surrounding grounds, are part of the Nahant Marsh preserve as well.
The 305-acre preserve is owned by the City of Davenport and the Nahant Marsh Board, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Conservation and restoration efforts on the preserve are directed by the Nahant Board. The educational programming is overseen by Eastern Iowa Community Colleges.
The Education Center is at 4220 Wapello Ave., Davenport. For more information, visit the Nahant Marsh website.
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