Center offers sneak peeks

NEWPORT BEACH — Nancy Palmer wasn’t among the students who wielded the first shovels for the Environmental Nature Center in the early 1970s. But when the Newport Harbor High School alumna visited the center’s new eco-friendly facility Saturday, she did reconnect with part of her history.

Palmer, who ventured to the facility next door to Newport Harbor High with her walking group, was a student of Bob Fry, the biology teacher who helped found the center.

Fry, his students and other faculty began turning the site into a nature laboratory in 1972, the year after Palmer graduated — but even before then, she said, he encouraged his classes to benefit the local ecosystem.

“He taught the advanced biology course, which was really an ecology course, so he got all of us involved in the Friends of Upper Newport Bay,” said Palmer, a Costa Mesa resident.

Saturday marked the first open house for the Environmental Nature Center’s new building, which features natural light, recycled furnishings and insulation and other environmentally friendly components.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., more than 100 residents toured the 9,000-square-foot building, which opened earlier this month, and visited the gift shop, live snakes and lizards in glass cases and interactive displays on the food chain, the local wildlife and more.

With its many “green” elements, the center is expected to be the first Orange County building to achieve a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Lana Meade, a naturalist at the center, said she didn’t expect it to be the last.

“It definitely is something that needs to be thought about a lot,” she said. “The way a lot of buildings are being built nowadays is not very sustainable.”

At least two builders did stop by the open house Saturday in search of ideas. Catherine Hawke, who lives in Newport Beach, passed through in the morning with her husband and 1-year-old daughter.

“I think it’s pretty amazing,” she said. “We’re in construction development ourselves, so we’re admiring the design of the building.”

The center, which charges no admission, opens to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Two more open houses are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 18 and Aug. 8.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.