Schuylkill Center For Environmental Education Gets $25K Grant

ROXBOROUGH, PHILADELPHIA — A $25,000 grant was recently awarded to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough.

State Rep. Pamela A. DeLissio, D-Montgomery/Phila., said the grant was awarded to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (SCEE) to prepare a Master Site Development Plan for the agency’s 340-acre site.

"The SCEE has been educating greater Philadelphia about the environment for more than 50 years," DeLissio said, citing its Nature Preschool as the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and its groundbreaking NaturePHL nature prescription program having already been funded by two Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grants.

The grant money for the 340-acre Master Site Development Plan would allow SCEE to:

• Engage a landscape architecture/planning firm to assist in establishing better pedestrian and biking connections to the center.
• Design re-use of three 19th century buildings on site.
• Resolve its Wildlife Clinic’s need for new cages and perhaps a new building.
• Re-envision the organization’s use of the land around its Visitor’s Center.

"These enhancements would allow the SCEE to better support and educate not only the residents of the 194th, but citizens throughout southeastern Pennsylvania," DeLissio said. "What I personally like most about the SCEE is how they engage the community throughout the year, involving board members, volunteers, school children of all ages, and community groups."

The grant was among dozens awarded by the Pennsylvania DCNR on Thursday through its Community Conservation Partnerships Program.