Plains Conservation Center, Nature preserve and education center in Aurora, United States
The Plains Conservation Center is an outdoor education center and state-designated natural area in Aurora, Colorado, covering 1,000 acres of shortgrass prairie. Its replica homestead village holds two houses, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, a chicken coop and a tipi camp, built as sod structures in 1969.
The center was established in 1949 to educate the public about prairie ecosystems. The recreated buildings added in 1969 represent how people settled and sustained themselves on this grassland.
The replica homestead village at the Aurora site holds two houses, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop and a chicken coop, built as sod structures in 1969. A separate replica tipi camp stands on the grounds. Seasonal events and education programs are run through the City of Aurora's naturalist program and the Denver Botanic Gardens.
The Aurora site is owned by the Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space department, and seasonal events and education programs run through the City of Aurora's naturalist program and the Denver Botanic Gardens. The grounds hold a replica homestead village, a replica tipi camp and about 1,000 acres of shortgrass prairie, so allow time to walk between them.
The Aurora site holds a replica tipi camp alongside its homestead buildings, and the 1,100 acres passed from the City of Denver and the Bureau of Land Management to Aurora in 1997. The non-profit dissolved in 2017, so the City of Aurora now runs the site with Denver Botanic Gardens programs.
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