In 1942, Ed and Merele Cousins broke ground on what would become a palatial country residence along the shore of Lake Ontario. ‘Edmerel’, as they called their home, is now sometimes referred to as ‘the yellow house’ and is the site of Presqu’ile's Nature Centre. If you haven’t taken a tour, please do so! It is open daily, 10am to 4pm, in July and August. Our enthusiastic nature interpreters will be there to answer your questions about the native plants and animals, geology and fossils, and the natural history and ecological niches of the area.

The Nature Centre is an important venue for delivering Presqu'ile's Discovery Program. Depending on the day, you might hear about Funky Fossils, Frog Hop, Insect Safari, Prehistoric Presqu’ile, The Stars Above, Shipwrecks and Pirates, and more! Last year over 12,000 visits were made to the Nature Centre.

Can we do better? You bet we can! For many years the building has needed some TLC, and the Friends and the Ontario Parks have a plan to revitalize it. Last fall the roof and the eavestroughs were replaced, and during the next year there will be some indoor cosmetic changes (wall and floor repair, painting). The park will replace the electrical system and the HVAC system. The Friends will focus on renovating the old garage into a classroom, which is our Garage to Greatness: Building Nature’s Classroom 2025 fundraiser.

Part of our motivation for this initiative is to enable us to run programming in the winter, or in other seasons when the weather is inclement. Our aim is to create a four-season classroom for 20-25 students. In June, Friends volunteers did some demolition and clean up.

Once the attic insulation is replaced, the electrical work is done and the ceiling has been replaced, new wall insulation, drywall, and painting will be our next jobs.  We will purchase appropriate furniture/desks and equip the room with an audiovisual system. And voila! Garage to Greatness!  In future years we will focus on upgrading the exhibits to provide a more interactive experience for our visitors.

 
You may know that in May we participated in the McDougall Insurance Community video contest. Volunteer Janine McClintock produced a very compelling video for us, and while our entry did not win (based on social media votes), the video is a great two-minute introduction to the project. Have a look: https://youtu.be/ipJzlfORHZ0.

We need your help. If you’ve had home renovations done, you know they’re expensive. Thus, anything you can contribute would be much appreciated. The online donation form is linked here on our website.

You can follow the progress of the project on our website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.