Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy opens Environmental Education Center

A new environmental education center has sprouted in Dumbo.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, in collaboration with Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP), debuted a new Environmental Education Center at 99 Plymouth Street on Thursday, September 10.

Complete with 12-foot ceilings and a glass wall overlooking the East River, the center will house two signature exhibits: a marine aquarium, set to showcase fish and invertebrates collected from the Hudson River Estuary, and a Discovery Station complete with a 10-foot scale model of Brooklyn Bridge Park, providing an “in-depth look at the park’s ecology, history, and sustainable design,” according to BBP.

“The Environmental Education Center is a wonderful addition to the northern end of the park,” said Regina Myer, Brooklyn Bridge Park president. “Thanks to the Conservancy, thousands of students from across the city will benefit from the environmental education that is one of the core missions of the park.”

“We are overjoyed by the opening of the Environmental Education Center,” added Nancy Webster, executive director of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. “This dynamic space provides all Brooklyn Bridge Park visitors the exciting opportunity to explore the park at a deeper level.”

According to BBP, in addition to the Environmental Education Center, 99 Plymouth is part of a $6 million renovation of Main Street Park. This $4.5 million facility provides a community space and public restrooms, and contains park operations.

Since 2008, the Conservancy’s education program has given over 46,000 young people from New York City schools and day camps on-site, hands-on investigative classes in environmental sciences.

“Brooklyn’s parks are our backyards, and Brooklyn Bridge Park has been a destination backyard for Brooklynites and visitors from all over the globe since the park’s inception,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “The opening of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy’s Environmental Education Center will only add to an already world-class park, and the education center’s programming will open the eyes of children to the world of ecology, environmental sustainability, and innovation in urban design, as well as all the future opportunities those areas of interest can provide.”