Thanks to a couple of generous donations from the estates of nature lovers, and with the expected help of a fund-raising effort about to begin, Benton County will soon have a new Nature Center at a lower cost than other counties of similar size have spent.

During their meeting on Tuesday, the county supervisors set a July 6 budget hearing for the Conservation Department. The issue is a loan to the conservation department from the Donovan Trust. The trust includes more than $800,000 in bank accounts, with the interest being used for conservation projects.

But with special permission from the Donovan trustees, the conservation board will borrow funds needed to buy the house owned by Kevin and Deb Hesson. The loan will be repaid over eight years at only 2.5 percent interest.

Another trust was instrumental in the creation of the Nature Center.

The total cost of the project is estimated at around $500,000.
The first $100,000 of that money will come from the Laverne Kerkman estate.
Kerkman left the Conservation Department approximately $200,000 from the sale of his estate. Half of that money was to go toward a Nature Center at either Hannen Lake or Rodgers Park. The other half was divided into two equal parts to fund improvements at those two parks, and to go toward educational projects for the Benton County Naturalist education programs.
“Laverne Kerkman loved camping at Hannen Lake and Rodgers Park,” said Dave Henkel, a former Conservation Board member.
 
Using the Kerkman funds and the loan from the Donovan Trust, the
Conservation Department will purchase the house and lot at the corner of 58th Street and 20th Avenue Drive, which is adjacent to Rodgers Park. The house will then be remodeled into a Nature Center. The purchase of the house will cost approximately $270,000.
The board had initially planned to build a new Nature Center on property currently under the control of the Conservation Department. But this new option will cost less than half of the $1.2 million estimated for the new center. It also increases the size of Rodgers Park.
The land purchase would include some wetlands that can be managed to help reduce flooding of the creek that winds through Rodgers Park. High waters have caused some damage to a bridge there in recent years.
 
The first part of the project is the purchase of the property; the second would be the renovation of the home into a Nature Center.