Nature Center vs. Discovery Center

Re “Furious flutter over project,” Oct. 12

Busing children someplace and then actually having them learn something when they get there are two different things.

The children who currently come to the Nature Center are eager to learn about nature by going out to the trails and also learning about the owls and hawks and the many different snakes there. All of these things would be gone if this project is built.

With the real thing currently available, why destroy it and replace it with a Disneyland-like landscape? The Discovery Center was not intended to teach children (or adults) about anything except water. If the Discovery Center is built, our children will have no place to go in our community to learn about nature by actually experiencing it. What a loss!

Anadel Miller

Whittier

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Anyone who says the current Whittier Narrows Nature Center is appropriate for the community simply hasn’t been there in awhile. The place is rundown and kids aren’t drawn to it. The exhibits are falling apart, much like the buildings, and they do not provide an appropriate vehicle for the docents to really educate the visitors.

The proposed Discovery Center will have the capacity for education and recreation for our community. I give Gloria Molina a lot of credit for getting out there and making sure the funding is in place to revitalize what could be a wonderful resource.

Salvador Ramirez

South El Monte

The writer is a member of the board of trustees of the El Monte Union High School District.