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UMORE
Park Interpretive Center
In
2001, the newly adopted management plan for
UMORE
PARK
, “Cultivating a Landscape for Knowledge: Management Plan for the
University
of
Minnesota Outreach
, Research, and
Education
Park
”, identified the need to interpret the diverse physical, social,
and cultural features within the PARK for the citizens of
Minnesota
. These features include the artifacts of natural systems and prior human
occupation of the land as well as the University’s extensive engagement
of the site as a platform for a wide range of land-based research
programs. The Management Plan introduced the concept of an interpretive
center linked to the broader landscape by a series of interpretive,
recreational trails serving the varied needs of the greater metropolitan
region.
The
concept of an interpretive center was explored further by the
Precision
Agricultural
Center
,
Retail
Food
Industry
Center
, and Center for Rural Design as a conceptual framework for AgTech-21:
Food, Land, and
Agricultural
Technologies
Interpretive
Center
. AgTech-21 was envisioned as a state-of the-art facility for interpreting
modern agriculture and food production technologies for a predominantly
urban audience and as a training center for agriculturists in modern
farming and information management methodologies. In 2003, the UMORE PARK
Management Team issued a Strategic Plan for UMORE PARK that
identified an interpretive center as one of three projects submitted as
part of the PARK’S Six-Year Capital Request.
Currently,
the need for an interpretive center has increased significantly due to
increased public exposure to
UMORE
PARK
through the completion of Dakota County 46, a major east-west arterial
connector bisecting the PARK. In addition, the formal opening of the Lone
Rock Trail, the development of extensive
Master
Gardener
Display
Gardens
, and the initiation of other outreach programs has encouraged a broader
level of public engagement in PARK activities.
 CRD Contact:
Steve Roos
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