Coming Soon
Wildlife Preserves is pleased to announce that it will be building an Environmental Education Center to be located at 1001 S Beverwyck Road, in Parsippany. The Center will have 28 parking spaces, public restrooms, a large room for indoor programs and presentations, and will serve as a trailhead for visitors to access the roughly 4-miles of hiking trails at Troy Meadows.
Wildlife Preserves chose this building site because it is generally located on the footprint of an old house and barns that no longer exist, with vehicle access from a Morris County Road. The plan is to replicate the exterior of the old historic farmhouse that once sat on the lot and hide the parking area behind the building, so it blends with the character of the neighborhood. The use is permitted under the current Recreation, Conservation, and Wildlife “RCW” Zone, and supported by the 2020 Parsippany Master Plan, to improve public access to Troy Meadows. Wildlife Preserves plans to minimize impact on natural lands by disturbing just under an acre of its more than 1,600-acre land holdings in Troy Meadows and replacing all 48 live trees that will be removed for the build with tree species that will provide greater habitat diversity. Additional revegetation of the site will include a 4500-square-foot pollinator and rain garden, visible from the EEC’s porch. Wildlife Preserves is working with LEED-certified architects on the building itself, standing for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, this provides a framework for healthy, efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost-saving green buildings.
History
Up until the late twentieth century, there stood an old historic house at the big bend at South Beverwyck Road. The historic house was built by Dr. Samuel Parrott in 1738. The property was passed on to Samuel’s daughter, Eleanor, who married Colonel Hiram Smith. An addition was built onto the house in the nineteenth century, a brick fireplace and chimney were added circa 1890. The property continued passing down through the Smith family for several generations until it was acquired by Wildlife Preserves in 1955.
The “Smith Lot” was used as a resting stop by General George Washington’s Army to refresh themselves and water their horses. During the nineteenth and twentieth century the lot served as a farm where the old house and several ancillary buildings stood. The house caught fire in 1974, and the Township forced Wildlife Preserves, by court order, to demolish its remains in and around 1979. Its stone foundation was filled with rocks and covered with gravel, and all the old building foundations still remain. The old house and several of the old buildings are still illustrated on the current tax maps.
Get Involved
Like the Troy Meadows Nature Preserve, this project is privately funded and is being built at no cost to the taxpayers. The Wildlife Preserves Environmental Education Center will be open to the public and will be a great asset to the community, providing events and programs such as Moth Nights, Owl Prowls, and Bat Walks. We are still soliciting ideas from the public about what programs they would be interested in so if you would like to share your thoughts or ideas, please contact us at: info@wildlifepreserves.org
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Wildlife Preserves Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so donations are tax deductible.