Environmental Volunteers

The Environmental Volunteers is transforming the iconic boat-shaped building that was formerly the Sea Scout Building located in the Palo Alto Baylands into a lively community resource for environmental education. Our new headquarters, to be known as the EcoCenter, will be a model "green building project" and a center for hands-on learning to promote environmental stewardship for visitors of all ages.

 

The EcoCenter is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to express the organization’s values, passions, and worldview in a physical structure.Jerry Hearn, Chair, EcoCenter Project Management Group

Built in 1941 by prominent local architect Birge Clark (responsible for over 100 buildings in Palo Alto and at Stanford University), the unique boat-shaped building was designed to resemble a 19th century paddlewheeler. The original building was paid for by noted peninsula philanthropist, Lucie Stern. The predominant look and feel is nautical as the building was designed to appear as a boat floating in the water. Generations of Peninsula residents grew up visiting the nearby duck pond and the ‘boat building’ became a local landmark. The building suffered from years of neglect and regular flooding at high tide and degraded into an eyesore. The Environmental Volunteers is excited to turn this ‘eyesore’ back into a community icon that will continue to connect visitors with the baylands ecosystem in which it resides.