The Rome-Floyd E.C.O. Center in Rome, Georgia’s Ridge Ferry Park, opened its doors in 2011. Since then, it has been providing quality educational programs that introduce people to Northwest Georgia’s native wildlife and informing the public on the importance of natural resources and conservation. Jones Pierce Studios is excited to support the growth of the E.C.O. Center with the development of a new renovation and addition.
The E.C.O. Center is housed in the City of Rome’s freshwater pumping station that opened in 1893. The original pumping equipment is still visible from inside the E.C.O. Center, which was renovated as part of a 2006 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) package.
The center provides programs for Pre-K through adults and welcomes visitors from across the state and beyond. In its early days, the center served 600 visitors in a typical year. Today, more than 10,000 students, adults and visitors come through its doors annually.
As the center’s grown in the number of people it serves, so, too, has its needs grown for a larger and more modern facility. Our Studio Pierce is excited to announce a partnership with the E.C.O. Center team and the City of Rome, where we will make the center’s expansion dreams a reality.
The E.C.O. Center staff works tirelessly to educate young (and old) minds about the ecology of Northwest Georgia.
Initial Phases of the Project
Completing a commercial architecture project, such as this one, requires many in-person meetings along the way. In our first meeting with the E.C.O. Center staff — Director Ben Winkelman, Biologist Jason Hosford and Environmental Educator Sarah Grimes — and Rome City Manager Sammy Rich, we walked around the facility, talked through their ideas for the space and discussed how the city hopes to use the space for events.
The goals for this expansion and renovation project include:
A new and more user-friendly, accessible building entry from the center’s parking lot
A new lower-level lobby with a renovation of the lower-level pump station into more exhibit space and improved classroom space that will also be used for events
Expanded exhibit space on the E.C.O. Center’s upper level
A new main-level reception area and office space to provide ample room for the center’s staff work area
As part of the schematic design phase, we presented the E.C.O. Center team with three exterior design options, along with three interior layout options. The purpose of the meeting was not only to get design feedback but to also gain confirmation of our understanding of their collective needs. One of the designs (below) quickly became a favorite and, today, we’re awaiting the group’s final feedback.
Once the design is approved, we’ll move to the third stage of the project, design development, where we will develop drawings for initial pricing.
This is one of the design options Jones Pierce Studios presented to the E.C.O. Center team.
Stay in Touch with the E.C.O. Center Project
There will be a lot of activity between now and the end of 2021 on the E.C.O. Center project, and we will keep you posted along the way here on our blog and on Jones Pierce Studios’ social media (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn).
Our team is excited for the “E.C.O. Center of tomorrow” and its future impact on the community and natural resource education and what the renovation will mean to the center’s staff.
This is the E.C.O. Center’s exterior as it appears today.
Visit the E.C.O. Center!
You can learn more about the E.C.O. Center on its website, and keep in touch with the daily activities via the center’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.
We highly recommend you schedule a visit to explore the wonderful facility to learn about Northwest Georgia wildlife and natural resource conservation. You can find the center’s visiting hours here.