It's a big pile of dirt now but it won't be long before the site at the entrance to the Mel Price Locks and Dam near Alton will be a sophisticated research center helping scientists understand and manage rivers.
Construction on the Great National Rivers Research and Education Center will get under way with a groundbreaking ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday at the National Great Rivers Museum at the locks and dam.
The center will let researchers look at river ecosystems and wildlife in a real-life environment using real river water from the area that is the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers.
The center is sponsored by a partnership of the University of Illinois, Lewis & Clark Community College and the Illinois Natural History Survey.
Center director Gary Rolfe, said the station's mesocosms will be one of the things that make it unique.
"A mesocosm really looks like a large swimming pool," said Rolfe, who also is a U of I professor emeritus. "We can pump water from the river for different studies such as fish populations and have a real world environment with actual river water and surroundings."
The project will cost more than $20 million with the initial phase due for completion in September 2009. That includes a central building, some offices and garage and storage space. The second phase probably will take another year, Rolfe said. It includes more offices, space for visiting researchers and the mesocosms.
The building will be self sufficient for electricity with solar, wind and hydropower. It will treat its own wastewater and the roof will be a living roof with green plants. It also will use native materials and recycle where possible.
"It will be totally green, at the platinum level," Rolfe said. "It's a cool building anyway you look at it."
Wally Spiers' column runs five days a week. Have a column idea? Call Wally at 239-2506 or (800) 642-3878; or e-mail: wspiers@bnd.com
