Please, consider subscribing for more free monthly articles!

A Brief History

For decades, the Howard Christensen Nature Center has been a beloved getaway for West Michigan nature lovers. Originally logged in the 1800s during the Michigan logging boom, with portions of railway still alleged to be visible near Spring Creek. The property eventually landed into the ownership of Carl Dunson.

One of the most influential figures in the history of the nature center, Dunson was a Grand Rapids business man and a botanist. One of the longest lasting impact is easily his creation of lagoons throughout the property, artificially expanding Christhaven lake through the use of dredging.

These eventually became the various wetlands that scatter the landscape, with the Tadpole Pond in front of the interpretive center being the only body of water outside of Christhaven Lake itself left from this period.

The land also served as a sort of base of operations for Dunson’s botanical plant collection. One stated goal of his was to have one of every plant native to the state of Michigan, one he allegedly succeeded in. What is now the HCNC also hosted gardens with non-native plants, the descendants of which can still be occasionally found in the aforementioned wetlands.

Rita & Frank Christensen, who owned the property some time afterwards, donated the land in 1975 to the Kent Intermediary School District (KISD) with the stipulation that the property be used as protected natural space into perpetuity. They did this in honor of their son and the center’s namesake, Howard Christensen, after he tragically passed from a brain aneurysm at the age of 17. In order to accommodate it’s new role as a nature center, KISD allocated resources to build a welcome center, an interpretive center, and a maintenance building.

The nature center became a popular spot for school field trips, with a recorded 17,000+ visitors in 1985. This demand prompted the construction of a new multi-purpose building with a connecting open-air pavilion in 2002.

HCNC, however, has faced an overall rough go in the 21^st century. KISD ceased funding the HCNC, prompting a shutdown of the facility. Things picked back up the next year, with the Kent Conservation District taking control of the center until 2011, when the director of the center was found to have been embezzling money from the HCNC. In order to fill the vacuum, a group of volunteers started Lily’s Frog Pad (LFP), the nonprofit that currently operates the HCNC.

The Current Situation

In March, nature lovers in West Michigan were hit with some rather saddening news, the Howard Christensen Nature Center will be closing it’s doors by the end of the year. A basic timeline of what led to this is that in March of last year, LFP decided to pursue the KISD as a potential funder for the nature center, as opposed to the current relationship of the school being a landlord for the center. (it should be noted that the rent for the facility was set at $1 a month, being more of a legal formality then an investment opportunity for the school.) Kim Gillows, treasurer of LFP, stated that the motivation of this was twofold, a stagnation in donation rates and an increase in overall costs.

In December, a formal proposal was crafted by LFP for funding from the KISD, with plans for a full time director and part time staff for maintenance and office work, with KISD asking to meet after the holidays. On January 16 of this year, the superintendent of KISD, Dr. Ron Gorman, informed board members of LFP that the district was planning on selling the HCNC land. Gillows says that this was part of a broader cost cutting campaign by the school district, comparing it to “Elon and his chainsaw”.

Later in February, Dr. Gorman identified the Land Conservancy of West Michigan (LCWM) as the buyer of the land and disclosed plans to use $165,000 of taxpayer funds to help demolish the buildings on the property. This was followed by a public school board meeting the next month in which the school board formally voted to sell the land to the LCWM.

Attempts by LFP have been made to buy the buildings while leaving the land to the new owners. However, in a letter to LFP, the school district clarified that the sale of the land has progressed to the point where they could no longer legally change the agreement, simply stating “if your organization wishes to pursue an arrangement regarding operations at the Howard Christensen Nature Center, the proper path is to engage with the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.”

The land conservancy, however, has made their position on the matter clear. “… we must make strategic decisions around commitments and funding our projects so we can have a continued impact in West Michigan, and sustaining the existing structures on the property over time is not financially responsible for our organization.”

Due to already planned commitments, the closing of the Howard Christensen Nature Center will take place September 30, 2026.

A Bittersweet End

The nature center meant a lot to the people who worked there and to the many folks who visited. During my interview with Kim Gillow, however, a sense of bittersweet acceptance dominated the conversation

“You can’t make up options that you aren’t given. … This is the best thing that could possibly happen, because we would have to shut down anyway. It would have meant locking the door and walking away.”, she remarked.

Before the visitor center is vacated and handed over to the LCWM, the board has been hard at work dissolving the nonprofit and emptying the center of it’s collection and of any various supplies. The Tyrone Historical Society will receive much of the nature center’s personal collection, with plans for a future exhibit regarding the center.

A Bright Future

While the story of the Howard Christensen Nature Center as part of the KISD sunsets after half a century, we shift our focus to the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. Forming in 1976, just one year after the donation of the land that HCNC rests on, the LCWM is dedicated to protecting natural spaces in the West Michigan area. One of the main ways they accomplish this is through conservation easements, legal agreements which prevent development of property, even through changes in ownership. In addition, the land conservancy currently operates 20 preserves that are open to the public, free of charge. Howard Christensen is slated to be the 21^st.

Over the years, the land conservancy had considered partnering with the nature center, but were surprised at the offer to acquire the property. According to Jake Swedberg, the land protection director at the LCWM, “… Our sales pitch is hard to promise; we promise to protect spaces forever and we won’t be around forever. ”. As part of the organization’s accreditation, the WMLC has a checklist of features they check when considering to acquire a property, which include factors such as habitat diversity, connection to other, nearby wild spaces, and size. In regards to the HCNC, Swedberg remarked, “This is a significant property for that local area. Some of those characteristics I listed [in the checklist] are just a slam dunk”.

The land conservancy has confirmed that the property will remain open to to the public through the public through the course of tearing down the old buildings, with demolition planned to start in the fall.

While this is certainly an end to an era, this is not the final chapter in the story of the land. This is arguably best put by Rog and Liz Christensen, relatives of Frank and Rita Christensen, “We know without hesitation Uncle Frank and Aunt Rita would be very pleased to know West Michigan Land Conservancy was going to be stewards of their property. WMLC ownership will ensure that people of all ages will be able to enjoy nature as they and their beloved Howard did.”