CONCLUSION

On the day it opens, the Columbus Audubon Center will be unusual, if not unique, among facilities that practice nature-based education. While many fine facilities exist around the United States, few if any occupy a near-downtown location like the Columbus Center, and few if any have such close proximity to audiences that typically have not been able to enjoy regular, nearby encounters with nature. The Columbus Audubon Center will help transform this blighted landscape into an urban nature area for people, birds, and other wildlife to enjoy.

If we do the job the right way - if we plan well, build community support, design and build carefully, and hire and train a top-flight staff - other communities will soon want their own comparable facility. The Columbus Audubon Center thus not only has the potential to open new eyes to nature in Columbus, but also to inspire by its example other facilities and programs elsewhere, not only in Ohio but across the country.

The foregoing business plan is organic. We will undoubtedly encounter unanticipated challenges as we move from plan to reality. We must be sufficiently flexible to revise and adapt the plan without losing sight of the fundamental vision and values described in it. We are confident that we can do so.

Audubon Ohio looks forward to working with the people and institutions of Columbus to make this plan a reality.