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  • Article Photo. Many birds are already at home in the sanctuary built by the Ikes at the Nature Center.
    Many birds are already at home in the sanctuary built by the Ikes at the Nature Center.
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  • Article Photo. Benton County Conservation Director Matthew Purdy sits in the loft at the Nature Center.
    Benton County Conservation Director Matthew Purdy sits in the loft at the Nature Center.
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The bird feeders were nearly empty Friday morning, giving Matthew Purdy one more task on one more very busy day.

The Benton County Conservation Director and his staff are busy preparing the Nature Center for its first open house this Tuesday, at 7 p.m.

“We will have 1,000 visitors in the coming year, maybe 2,000,” said Purdy on Friday morning, as he walked through the Nature Center, explaining the displays that many area residents will see for the first time this week.

Most of those visitors will be children from area schools. They will surely love the loft, which is surrounded by many treated branches salvaged from trees damaged in the storm of 2011. Below that loft is a carpeted tunnel.

On the wall near the tunnel entrance is a quote from President Teddy Roosevelt: “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”

Across the room from that area is a display called “White in a Colored World.” Several stuffed albino animals, accompanied by an informational panel, are on display. They all came from this part of Iowa, and thanks to area taxidermists, will be available to teach and inspire children for decades to come.

Just to the right of that display is an area for grown-ups. Furniture – including a storage bench and end table which Roger Albert created from wood from area trees- surrounds a fire place; a bearskin rug covers the floor in that corner.

In the opposite corner, a buffalo – another work of Iowa taxidermists – stands watch.

Two fish tanks – next to a tank which will soon be a home for turtles – line the wall of a small room. Downstairs, at the entrance to the Cargill Room – named in honor of that company’s $50,000 donation to the Nature Center, is one of the many works of art by Brian Parr. His familiar chain saw art work is also on display outside, where The Lorax and a blue heron stand watch over the continually-growing outdoor classroom area.

Residents will be able to see all of this, and learn about the efforts that have already gone into the Benton County Nature Center, during the Open House on Tuesday. The event begins at 7 p.m.; the center is located at 5718 20th Avenue Drive, just west of Rodgers Park, about a mile north of Highway 218 northwest of Vinton.

Purdy said the event will include a video presentation about the Nature Center, as well as information about efforts to preserve the Tobin Cabin in the historic nature area along the Cedar River near the Mount Auburn bridge and boat ramp.

The public is invited. Purdy said the Conservation Department is working on setting up open hours for inside the nature center, while area residents are welcome to visit the outdoor classroom area at any time. That area includes a bird sanctuary funded by the Red Cedar Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, and several places for adults to sit and children to play. Purdy said there are also plans to expand the pheasant house to make it large enough to become the home to 50 birds.

“We have lots of plans,” says Purdy, referring to both inside and outside the Nature Center. The Benton County Conservation Foundation is the main fund-raising source for the project.