Secor Metropark celebrates remodeling of photo center

Published: Monday, 10/6/2014 - Updated: 2 minutes ago

BY NATALIE TRUSSO CAFARELLO BLADE STAFF WRITER

After a seven-month renovation, the National Center for Nature Photography has opened with three exhibits.

On Sunday, Secor Metropark in Sylvania Township hosted a community celebration for the newly remodeled building, constructed in the 1950s. The gallery that features award-winning nature photography was enlarged and brightened, as some walls were knocked down and more windows were constructed, letting in natural light.

The upgrades added 1,000 square feet to the two-story building, bringing total gallery space to 3,000 square feet. The refreshed look transformed office space into display and programming areas, placing operational duties upstairs.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here to view more photos

Visitors got a first look at childrens books author and photographer David FitzSimmons Curious Critters: Larger than Life!, which detailed animal and insect portraits.

Art Weber, director of the Metroparks photography center, produced Ohios Sand Country: We Call It The Oak Openings, a traveling collection of 25 photographs highlighting the unique plants and animals within the Oak Openings Region of Lucas County.

We are hoping to bring the exhibit to libraries, nature centers throughout Ohio to spread education of the Oak Openings Region beyond our backyard, Metroparks spokesman Scott Carpenter said.

Secor Metropark is one of the bookends for the Oak Openings Corridor, an ongoing project to create a continuous greenway connecting the Metroparks with local and state parks that makeup the rare ecosystem, he said. The other bookend is the Metroparks Oak Openings Preserve in Swanton.

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Secor Metropark celebrates remodeling of photo center