Site chosen for $155 million ‘Earthpark’
godzilla
2 October 2006
General, Habitat, Technology
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Central Iowa has been chosen as the site for a massive indoor rain forest and environmental learning center that organizers hope will be as successful as its predecessor in the United Kingdom.
Earthpark will be built on 70 acres of wooded land overlooking Lake Red Rock near Pella and will be modeled after Eden — a similar project in Cornwall that has attracted 8 million visitors annually in its first five years of operation.
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Earthpark will be built on 70 acres of wooded land overlooking Lake Red Rock near Pella and will be modeled after Eden — a similar project in Cornwall that has attracted 8 million visitors annually in its first five years of operation.
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Earthpark is established as a nonprofit organization run by a 20-person board of retired executives from Meredith Corp., Maytag Corp. and others. The project is the brainchild of Des Moines businessman Ted Townsend.
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In addition to Earthpark’s local funding, which will come primarily from a hotel-motel tax in Marion County, the Department of Energy has promised a $50 million grant, and the state is expected to allocate $15 to $20 million.
The remaining amount will come from debt financing, Oman said.
Project background is online at www.earthpark.org.
This illustration shows how a glass dome would cover the tropical forest inside Earthpark. A main dome is expected to enclose about four acres and stand more than 150 feet in the air.
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