By Jennifer Sheppard, Hometown News | View Source

After spending several years working out of two trailers, Chad Truxell of the Marine Discovery Center said he and the rest of the staff there are looking forward to having a “concrete” home – both literally and figuratively.

Soon the center will be relocating to its new home, the administration building at the old New Smyrna Beach High School.

“We’ll actually have a lease in a real concrete building that’s been newly restored with technology,” Mr. Truxall said. “It’s just going to make everything a lot more practical to run and expand.”

Another local non-profit organization, The Artists’ Workshop, will also relocate to what will eventually be the Mosquito Lagoon Enhancement Center.

The center, a partnership between the city, Volusia County and The Wildlife Foundation of Florida, a branch of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, will be an eco-tourism center that will include classrooms, a fish hatchery, boardwalks, a boat ramp and kayak launches. It is expected to take several years to complete, but the first phase, renovating the administration building for the Marine Discovery Center and the Artists’ Workshop, should be done by this fall.

Brett Boston, executive director of The Wildlife Foundation of Florida, said he is elated about the partnership with the two local organizations.

“It’s a great fit,” he said, “just a win-win situation for everyone.”

Mr. Truxall said the Marine Discovery Center has always been “program rich and facility poor.”

“We’ve always had to make-do,” he said. “We are grateful to have what we have, but looking forward to having so much more.”

“So much more” will include two spacious classrooms, a reception area, several offices and the shared use of a large lab – a quadrupling of the space the center now has, Mr. Truxall said.

From its current riverside home on city owned property on the south side of the North Causeway, the center offers environmental educational programming for all ages, boat and kayak tours and summer camps. In its new home, some of those programs will expand and some will change or be restricted.

“We have a larger shoreline in the new location, so that aspect will be great,” Mr. Truxall said.”Also, now, when kayaks launch to go out to the islands, they have to go through a busy boating area; at the new site, they won’t have to worry about that.”

Running the center’s boating operations – like eco-tours and camp trips – is another matter.

“The current site allows deep water access; the new one does not,” Mr. Truxall said.

City officials, who want to sell the property, are trying to help with that dilemma by including the center’s boating operations as a “listed use” on the property.

And while the Marine Discovery Center will not be charged rent for its new facility, it will have to pay for utilities. Mr. Truxall expects those costs may run just a little higher than their current overhead because the space is so large.

“We’re not going to dive into anything we can’t handle,” he said. “The benefits from the increased visibility and the partnership will far outweigh any additional costs.”

And while it may seem strange for an arts organization to make its home at a marine center, all involved said it is a natural.

“We are extremely excited,” Artists’s Workshop member Joye Shaffer said. “We talk about it every single month. We’re all set up and ready to go.”

Both Mr. Truxall and Ms. Shaffer said the two groups will partner on programming.

“We want to make sure that we incorporate art into our current programs,” Mr. Truxall said.

The Artists’ Workshop, with more than 250 members, will be able to “provide a link between marine conservation and art” through an “Eco-Art Program,” Ms. Shaffer said.

The Artists’ Workshop space will be open to the public with an outdoor covered area for art activities, along with a studio space for classes and workshops and an art library.

Mr. Boston said the presence of both organizations at the center will make it more important to locals – especially young ones.

“They both offer a connectivity to the community and lots of kids’ programming,” he said. “They will definitely bring more people in.”

Mr. Boston said he is looking forward to the partnership.

“And that’s what it really is,” he said, “a partnership. We’re not going to be their landlord.”

Renovating the old administration building is just the first phase of the Mosquito Lagoon Enhancement Center. It is being funded with a $600,000 Volusia County ECHO grant, along with $130,000 provided by the city. The Artists’ Workshop and Marine Discovery Center, each donated $10,000.

All parties expect to be settled in and opened to the public sometime in the fall.

Jeannine Gage contributed to this story.