SNEAK PEEK: The Living Desert’s Discovery Center

Construction crews at The Living Desert’s new Discovery Center are on a roll.

The $4 million dollar design may be done on time.

“You don’t come across a project that finishes on time and on budget very often,” said Stacey Johnson, CEO and president. “And this is going to do both.”

Johnson gave News Channel 3 a sneak peek of the 3,600 square foot interactive center. It is scheduled to open to the public during the first week of November.

“We all have different ways of learning,” said Johnson, “Some of us read, some of us listen, some of smell, some of us touch. This is a way to engage all the senses as you’re going through.”

The center is an added attraction, but it will not be an added cost. The center includes an 8-foot skeleton of a great groundsloth, a creature that lived in the Coachella Valley more than 10,000 years ago.

At the other end of the room, there will be a giant mural of the valley. The center will also demonstrate the effects created by the desert’s natural elements, such as the sun and the wind.

“You’re going to be able to control a high speed fan that demonstrates how sand dunes are created,” Johnson explained.

There will also be a darkroom with a painted constellation on the ceiling to depict nighttime life in the desert.

The outside of the building will be an ecological wonder of its own. Johnson explained a misting system will be installed on top of the building. Together with the wind current, hot air will vent through a steel tower to cool the building. Johnson said it is like being in a giant swamp cooler.

The Discovery Center will also contain a gift shop, a snack bar and picnic tables to accommodate more than 200 people.

Miriam U. Hoover, the widow of the late chairman of the Hoover vacuum company, donated most of the funds. Johnson said Hoover wanted this to be her legacy gift.

It is a present The Living Desert cannot wait to open in five months.

Johnson said, “If they’re in here having a good time, we’ve done it right.”