East Park Leadership and Conservation Center

The East Park Leadership and Conservation Center ("eplacc") is a partnership project of the philadelphia outward bound school ("outward bound") and the national audubon society, inc. ("audubon"). Together, the two organizations raised funds and oversaw the construction of the discovery Center in East fairmount Park, a one-of-a-kind Center for nature Conservation and youth Leadership development. Overlooking a 37-acre reservoir, the discovery Center features indoor and outdoor classrooms, exhibitions, trails, high ropes course, climbing wall, and bird-watching look-outs. Outward bound and audubon developed the Center with strong involvement from neighborhood residents with the intention of serving philadelphia's economically challenged communities through public programs and access to a new public amenity. Eplacc is governed by a board of directors consisting of three representatives from outward bound, three from audubon, and a representative jointly selected by the strawberry mansion community development corporation and strawberry mansion neighborhood action Center of philadelphia. In addition, outward bound and audubon entered into a memorandum of understanding that governs use of the discovery Center and its environs, cost sharing between outward bound and audubon, and other related matters. The primary purpose of eplacc is to further the missions of its two supporting organizations - national audubon society and philadelphia outward bound school - by developing the site in way that will protect birds and other wildlife, allow for managed public access, provide space and resources for public programming, and create adequate staff offices. It is the goal of eplacc, through the discovery Center, to create an unparalleled resource to connect communities across the philadelphia region with youth Leadership development, nature, and habitat Conservation. On july 3, 2014 ("the effective date"), eplacc entered into a ground lease with the philadelphia authority for industrial development. The lease is for a 30-year period starting on the commencement date. At the end of the 30-year period, eplacc may renew the lease for an additional 10-year period. The commencement date was september 13, 2017 and is the date that eplacc met a series of conditions including written approval of the project budget, and raising 100 percent fo the total project budget in readily available funds or in binding, irrevocable donation pledges not later than the fifth anniversary of the effective date. In 2016, audubon completed work on an overflow valve to control water levels on the reservoir as required by the city of philadelphia, preserving the reservoir for the benefit of birds and other wildlife. This first phase of construction, which decommissioned the reservoir as a dam, was required prior to any additional construction activity at the site. Construction on the discovery Center began in october 2017, and was completed in september 2018. The capital campaign undertaken by outward bound and audubon envisioned a project budget sufficient to fund all construction costs for the discovery Center, a $5 million endowment to support building operations in perpetuity, and capital and operating reserves for building repairs and support for the programs of outward bound and audubon.