Date: June 15, 2009
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Announces the Douglas Center Summer Revival
Gary, IN—Join The National Park Service and community partners as they kick-off summer plans and programs at the Summer Revival Open House from 1-4 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education in the Miller section of Gary.
This open house will highlight opportunities for families and visitors to enjoy the resources available at the Douglas Center and Miller Woods throughout the summer. National Park Service staff will be on hand to answer questions and lead hikes. Refreshments will be provided by the Friends of Indiana Dunes.
The Douglas Center has been a hub for education programming throughout the school year during its 23 years of operation. This summer marks a return of full-service activities at the center year-round. The Douglas Center will serve not only as a place for environmental education, but also as “western visitor center” for the entire Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore which extends from Gary to Michigan City.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore superintendent Constantine Dillon is excited about the future of the Douglas Center. “It is rare to have a national park environmental education center in the middle of a city,” notes Dillon, “we are pleased to be a part of Gary and we look forward to re-establishing ourselves as a part of the community.”
Beginning June 28 and running through Labor Day weekend, National Park Service employees and volunteers will provide open houses at the Douglas Center on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Programs will feature the resident animals of the Douglas Center and family-friendly activities for all to enjoy. All programs are free.
For more information on this and other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, please contact Kim Swift, education programs manager, at 219-395-1859 or by email at Kimberly_swift@nps.gov. The Douglas Center is located on north Lake Street in the Miller section of Gary.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 391 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shorelines of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes, and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana. More than 2 million visitors come to this national park each year. More information can be found at www.nps.gov/INDU.
