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Barton School House Restoration and Nature Education Center project Appeal: The center will celebrate the region's heritage, and natural and agricultural environments, and will promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of the need for getting along with our environment. Anyone who contributes to this project will have the immense satisfaction of having helped create an absolute gem for the entire region. Education, recreation, inspiration, and appreciation - the Barton School Nature Education Center will be the star of the Inland Empire. Project: Partners: Goal: History: Today, the building, on a new foundation, awaits restoration. Plan: Ultimately, the users plan to incorporate every possible "green" building technique and materials, and to use the school house as a demonstration building to show what can be accomplished with an old building. A second component is the construction of a new structure to the south of the school house. This new building will be connected to the school house, and will contain a new kitchen and the restrooms. The kitchen will be used by the school's Farm-to-Table program which teaches students to grow, cook, and serve the crops from the farm. This will be a public restaurant. The third component is the nature education facilities, a nine-acre complex of gardens and demonstration sites, including an ethno-botanic garden, outdoor amphitheater, sustainable energy demonstration area, an archaeological dig, water-wise demonstration gardens, animal pens, and an organic farm. Once completed, the entire facility, including the school house, will be available to the public seven days a week for tours, activities, events, educational programs, and research. The Grove School students will be trained to serve as docents for all tours, and will assist in managing the center.
Projected costs: Projected completion date:
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Few locations in Redlands will have the impact of the Barton School Nature Education Center. With easy access to I-10, the center will be readily available to visitors from all over Southern California. With the proximity to three universities, the center will attract the assistance of renowned experts. Elementary school, middle school, and high school students from all over the region will be able to use the facility for projects and study. 
Restore the 1901 one-room Barton School House for use as an education facility for The Grove School and an event facility for the community, and to develop the accompanying property into a nature education center.
The Barton School House, constructed in 1901, served the west side of Redlands until 1937 when it was replaced by the Mission School. Since then, it has served as a church, a dance hall, and a residence before it was purchased by a developer who intended to demolish it and construct tilt-up office buildings on the site. The developer gave the building to The Grove School and paid for the relocation one mile south to The Grove School campus. It was moved in two pieces in September, 2009. 
