An Update on Construction and the Campaign

There is a lot happening at Teatown this summer. Construction is moving quickly across campus, and some of the spaces we have been talking about for years are beginning to look much more like the places our community will soon use and enjoy.

It is also an important moment for the campaign behind this work. When Teatown launched the community phase of the campus campaign in October 2024, approximately $3 million remained to be raised. Since then, through a combination of community support and grants, we have secured approximately $1.5 million toward that goal.

As we continue fundraising for the remaining work, here is a look at where things stand on campus today.

_{Staff on a tour of the Nature Center earlier this week.}

Inside the Nature Center, much of the work has shifted from major construction to the details that make a space feel finished.

Crews are completing painting on the upper level, installing carpet in the new offices, adding millwork at the tea station, pantry, and nook, and continuing work on lighting and controls. Over the next few weeks, wood flooring is scheduled to go in, HVAC systems will be started and balanced, and new flooring will begin appearing in the galleries and Moose Room. Installation of the elevator is also expected to begin soon.

Outside, the Nature Center is changing just as quickly. Finished decking is being installed, exterior trim and gutters are being completed, and crews are beginning grading and drainage work around the building.

We are currently planning for the Nature Center to reopen to the public on a limited basis in late 2026. That will be a major milestone, but it will not mean the campus transformation is finished. Exhibit fabrication and installation will still be underway, along with other elements of the project that will continue into 2027.

On left: current progress on the Education Center. On right: rendering of finished building.

Perhaps the most dramatic change right now is happening at the site of the new Education Center.

Foundation walls are being formed and poured this month, followed by concrete piers, backfilling, and preparation for utilities beneath the future building slab.

Work on the campus’s geothermal system is also moving forward. A geothermal test well was scheduled for early August, with drilling of the geothermal wells themselves beginning later in the month.

Across the site, crews are also continuing work on the new gabion walls, pathways, drainage systems, and the south lot detention basin. Together, these pieces are beginning to show how the buildings, paths, parking areas, and landscape will ultimately fit together as one campus.

What Still Lies Ahead

Even as construction moves forward, there is still a significant amount of work needed to bring the full vision to life.

That includes the new Nature Center exhibits, outdoor playscapes, native plantings, animal ambassador spaces, the maintenance building, and other final pieces of the campus transformation. Some of these elements are already being designed or fabricated while fundraising continues.

The full campus transformation is currently expected to be completed in mid-2027.

A New Goal for Givebutter

A few weeks ago, we launched a Givebutter page with an initial goal of $20,000 as we tested a new platform for community giving.

We have been encouraged by the response and have found Givebutter to be a useful way to share campaign progress, welcome gifts of all sizes, and make it easier for our community to follow along as the project develops.

We are now ready to use Givebutter as the online home for the final stage of the campaign.

That means the goal on the page will soon increase from $20,000 to $1.5 million. This is not a new fundraising need. It reflects the approximately $1.5 million that remains from the $3 million community-phase goal we established in 2024.

We want the page to give our community a clearer picture of both how far we have come and what remains to be done.

The transformation happening across campus today has been made possible by years of generosity from our community, foundations, public partners, and supporters. We are incredibly grateful for that support, and we are excited to continue sharing the progress as Teatown’s new campus takes shape.

Help Us Finish What We Started

With approximately $1.5 million left to raise, your support will help complete the exhibits where adventurers young and old can learn about the animals, plants, and ecosystems that surround us at Teatown. It will help create natural playscapes where children can explore, imagine, and play in safe, non-toxic, plastic-free spaces.

Your support will also help expand native plantings that strengthen local habitats and ecosystems, as well as improve enclosures for Teatown’s non-releasable animal ambassadors.

With your help, we can bring the new campus fully to life and create a place that will serve generations to come.