Thursday, March 8, 2007
Showcasing nature in Laguna Beach
New museum, scheduled to open March 17, will display exhibits on Laguna's environment.
By KELLY GARRISON
The Orange County Register
LAGUNA BEACH – Nestled in a hilly stretch of Laguna Canyon sits a 2,000-square-foot exhibit hall built to teach and inspire.
Scheduled to open to the public March 17, the James and Rosemary Nix Nature Center will display science, art and history exhibits related to the surrounding coastal sage scrub habitat.
Its location in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park's Little Sycamore Canyon Staging Area links it with a network of trails leading to parks and preserves as well as access to the county's only natural lake.
"It's the perfect spot because it's at the crossroads of the regional park system," Laguna Canyon Foundation Executive Director Mary Fergaus said.
"I think it will be busy every day."
Guests enter through a "decompression chamber" where footage of local history and the environment is projected on a wall.
Four "portals" frame views of the canyon. Displays include fossil reproductions, endangered species and artifacts from the Acjachemen tribe.
Laguna Woods Village residents James and Rosemary Nix gave $500,000 to start the $3.4 million project in 1999.
The center was dedicated in November 2006.