Tom Ridge Environmental Center

{{Short description|Educational facility in Erie, Pennsylvania}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2025}} [[Image:TREC.jpg|thumb|right|The Tom Ridge Environmental Center]] The '''Tom Ridge Environmental Center''' is an educational [[facility]] on the grounds of [[Presque Isle State Park]] in [[Erie, Pennsylvania]], [[United States]]. [[Designed]] by Wallace, Roberts & Todd Architects, this [[building]] was [[awarded]] the 2007 [[President's Award]] for design-build projects in [[Delaware and Pennsylvania]] by the [[American Society of Landscape Architects]].<ref name=gba1>{{cite web|title=Tom Ridge Environmental Cente|url=https://www.go-gba.org/projects/tom-ridge-environmental-center/|publisher=Green Building Alliance|access-date=August 19, 2014}}</ref>

==History and notable features== Named after former [[Governor of Pennsylvania]] and U.S. [[Secretary of Homeland Security]] [[Tom Ridge]], the center opened on May 26, 2006.<ref name="trec">{{cite web |title=Tom Ridge Environmental Center now open at Presque Isle in Erie |url=http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2006/06-0607-trecpi.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224173851/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/news/resource/res2006/06-0607-trecpi.aspx |archive-date=December 24, 2012 |access-date=September 18, 2007 |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources}}</ref>

It features {{convert|65000|sqft|m2|0}}<ref name="trec"/> of space including interpretive exhibits highlighting local and regional [[flora]] and [[fauna]], as well as information on the human history and culture of the area. The center also has a [[large-format]] movie theater, a gift shop, a cafe, a visitors' center, and an observation tower of {{convert|75|ft|m|0}} <ref name="trec"/> that overlooks [[Lake Erie]] and [[Waldameer & Water World]]. The facility also has five conference rooms and eight laboratories for environmental education and research of supporting organizations, plus the administrative offices of several environmental and conservation groups and agencies.

The center was designed by Wallace, Roberts & Todd Architects, and received the 2007 [[American Society of Landscape Architects]] President's Award for design-build projects in Delaware and Pennsylvania.<ref name=gba1/>

The parking lot in front of the facility was previously occupied by a drive-in theater, the Peninsula, which opened in 1969 and closed in 2001 (five years before the environmental center opened).

Located next to the parking lot was a small wind turbine constructed in 2007. It was removed after several incidents in which ice chunks were flung from the blades and damaged the roof of the building. This also proposed threats to the public, especially in the parking lot.<ref>{{cite web |date=February 26, 2014 |title=Wind turbine to be demolished at the TREC |url=https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/02/26/wind-turbine-to-be-demolished-at-the-trec/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251001022255/https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/02/26/wind-turbine-to-be-demolished-at-the-trec/ |archive-date=October 1, 2025 |website=National Wind Watch |agency=[[WFXP|yourerie.com]]}}</ref>

==External links== *[http://www.trecf.org/ Website] *[https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/PresqueIsleStatePark/TRECPI/Pages/TRECPI.aspx PA DCNR Website]

== References == {{reflist}}

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[[Category:Museums in Erie, Pennsylvania|Tom Ridge Environmental Center]] [[Category:Natural history museums in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Nature centers in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Protected areas of Erie County, Pennsylvania]]