The Orange Audubon Society has launched a 60-day fundraising campaign aimed at raising $600,000 to move its long-planned Apopka Birding Park nature center into construction this summer. 

The campaign began Feb. 15 and is designed as an “intensive push” to give the all-volunteer organization confidence to formally engage a contractor and begin renovations on the former nursery site at the Lust Road entrance to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. 

“We will certainly need donations after that [fundraising push] as well, but that, we’re trying to do an intensive thing, and then we’ll feel confident to engage our contractors,” said Deborah Green, president of Orange Audubon Society. 

The Orange Audubon Society needs $4.5 million for the project, which includes construction and a sustainable fund for operations. Before the fundraising push, about half of that total has already been raised, Green said. The $600,000 figure for the 60-day drive is partly symbolic — “it kind of goes with the 60 days, 600,” she said — but also represents the final momentum needed to begin construction. 

A donor has already pledged $108,000 toward the fundraising effort.  

If the goal is met, Green said the organization hopes to break ground sometime this summer and complete the building’s construction by the time the North Shore Birding Festival comes in early December.  

If the target is not fully met by mid-April, construction could still proceed if fundraising is close to the goal. 

“If we’re close, we can probably still engage the contractor, and we’ll just keep on fundraising, just trying to get the word out about the project and how companies can benefit by supporting it, because of the high visitation to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and the fact that it’s going to be such an attractive building, something special,” she said.  

The group recently invited four contractors to view the project; two are expected to submit bids. The renovation will transform the site’s sturdy concrete block truck shop into a Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) Gold-certified nature center. The U.S. Green Building Council awards the certification, with Gold being the second-highest designation. 

The renovated 2,400-square-foot building will expand to about 3,400 square feet with the addition of a 1,000-square-foot bird observatory annex featuring bird-safe glass.  

The design has already received an Award of Merit in the unbuilt category from the American Institute of Architects’ Orlando chapter. 

At this point, the fundraising push does not include events. Instead, Orange Audubon is focusing on direct donations and outreach to individuals and businesses. Naming opportunities are available for portions of the building, including the annex and classrooms. 

The nonprofit, which operates with only one part-time education coordinator, hopes to use campaign funds to hire a full-time center director and expand programming. Plans include workshops on native plants and birds, sustainable home practices, and habitat restoration. 

Meanwhile, habitat work continues on the 70-acre site. The St. Johns River Water Management District is expected to remove old concrete greenhouse pads in March, clearing the way for native plant restoration. Volunteers are also battling cogon grass, an invasive species considered among the world’s worst weeds. 

“We know it’s going to be an amenity for Apopka to have a nice entry [with the] Nature Center, and it’ll be a place where we can better fulfill our mission,” Green said.