A major expansion is underway at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in the Iowa Great Lakes area. The environmental research and education center on the shores of West Okoboji offers hands-on learning for people of all ages.
Lab executive director Mary Skopec says the new Innovation and Discovery Lab in Milford will add classroom space and expand facilities for water-quality testing and more.
“We want people to come out and enjoy nature,” Skopec says, “but we really need that space to allow those researchers who really come from around the country to have a high-quality research lab for them to work in.”
Skopec says the 8,000-square-foot building will triple the number of students from kindergarten through high school who learn there, from 2,500 to 7,500.
“It’s a lot bigger than we’ve had on campus, but we really need it,” she says. “During the summer and the winter months, we are just bursting at the seams in order to have everybody who wants to be here, be in heated and air conditioned space.”
The lab helps track and improve the water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes, and volunteers take samples twice a month. They’ll use the new center for testing.
“That research I think is very important,” Skopec says. “It helps us understand that the investment that we’re making locally is paying off and better water quality and also just to understand how we protect these lakes for next generations to come.”
The facility will cost more than $6-million dollars, paid for by the state and private donations. It’s expected to open in September. Future plans also include adding housing and another lab closer to the lake.
(Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)