(Milford)--A major expansion is underway at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in the Iowa Great Lakes area. The environmental research and education center on the shores of West Lake Okoboji offers hands-on learning for people of all ages. Lab executive director Mary Skopec (SKOH-peck) says the new Innovation and Discovery Lab in Milford will add classroom space and expand facilities for water-quality testing and more.
Skopec says the eight-thousand-square-foot building will triple the number of students from kindergarten through high school who learn there, from 25-hundred to 75-hundred.
The lab helps track and improve the water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes, and volunteers take samples twice a month. They'll use the new center for testing.
The facility will cost more than six-million dollars, paid for by the state and private donations. It's expected to open in September. Future plans also include adding housing and another lab closer to the lake.
(From Radio Iowa)
