The new Coneflower Pavilion opened at Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha Aug. 21 after years of planning and community contributions.
The shelter sits on a former landfill site that was restored as prairie habitat starting in 2005. A board member who was an architect developed a design for the shelter that reflected its prairie location, according to Luke Schiller, Heckrodt’s executive director.
The shelter roof resembles a purple coneflower with a butterfly atop it. Schiller credits Boldt Construction for delivering that vision and also thanked major sponsors Community First, FTI, David and Rita Nelson Foundation, and Soper Companies.
The $400,000 project replaced a makeshift platform and in addition to the pavilion includes a nearby shelter with a solar panel roof that supplies power. Schiller said it will make the shelter useful not just as a learning space, but also as an event space that can host music and more.
“I’m sort of blown away,” said Heckrodt board member Carla Heckrodt. “It’s a functional work of art.”
Those who attended an opening reception were invited to tour the restored prairie and take home a potted coneflower that they could transplant in their yard.
The first community event scheduled for the pavilion is the Heckrodt Prairie Hootenany featuring a variety of events and music by The Wildwoods.
