By Diane Lederman
While salamanders typically migrate in the spring, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment — which has the amphibian as its mascot — is preparing for an off-season migration of its own.
By Visit Hampshire County
With the return of the school year and the changing of seasons among us, we’re heading into one of the best times of the year in Western Massachusetts. As you plan your fall visits to Hampshire County, be sure to consider adding the some of these new places and events to your itinerary!
By Darcy Boyle
Concrete artists from EnnisArt have taken a standard concrete floor of the recently built Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, Mass., and turned it into a beautiful depiction of the region’s Connecticut River Watershed.
By Julie Johnson
The time has arrived!! We are opening the doors to our gorgeous new environmental education center at 845 West Street tomorrow, Tuesday, September 13! Though we are still working to put the finishing touches on our building and site, we welcome learners, explores, and nature lovers of all ages to come visit our incredible new building that is free and open to all.
By Scott Merzbach for the Daily Hampshire Gazette
AMHERST – An aerial view of the Connecticut River and surrounding watershed in Massachusetts will be a focal point for visitors as they proceed through the new 9,000-square-foot living building being constructed for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment on the Hampshire College campus. The image — to be painted onto the concrete floor over the next three weeks by Asheville, North Carolina artist Tom Schulz — will provide an element of art and nature intersecting inside the $5.8 million building that will use net zero water and net zero energy and produce net zero waste.
Amherst, MA – On June 29, 2016, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) will be visiting the Hitchcock Center’s new living building site and announcing an exciting federal grant award to the Hitchcock Center from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The Hitchcock Center has been awarded a $148,586 IMLS grant for its innovative “Learning From Nature” exhibit design plan that will capture the interpretive potential of its artifacts and objects, its outdoor spaces, and built environment as portals into knowledge, feelings, and actions.
AMHERST – May 31, 2016 – Continuing its commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for Massachusetts, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced the awarding of $500,000 to the Hitchcock Center for the Environment for the construction of its living building project, which is a 9,000 square foot environmental education center that seeks to meet the “Living Building Challenge” standards. Once completed, the new center, which will become a place where students will be taught complex environmental issues, will need to meet performance standards, such as net zero energy and water, over a twelve month period prior to the education center receiving a full certification. Currently, fewer than ten buildings in the world have become fully certified.
By Jessica Schultz
In April, the deck along the Nest play area on the eastern side of the building was started and with it we began to get an even better sense of our view to Mt. Norrwotuck and the Pelham Hills. There are still many trucks and machines in the view for now, but we know that it will be a great place to view the mountain, watch the birds as our landscape grows, and to spot kestrels in flight in the field below our building.
By Jessica Schultz
In March our building became watertight.
By Jessica Schultz
While the vapor barrier was installed over the sheathing on the exterior of our building, our focus turned to the inside.
Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax