Closing Time Extended for Litzsinger Road Ecology Center

The Litzsinger Road Ecology Center (LREC) is an established educational site with land and facilities dedicated to promoting science teaching and learning, environmental literacy, and stewardship of the Earth. While located in the heart of the St. Louis metropolitan area, just 10 miles west of downtown St. Louis, this unique 34-acre study center encompasses a rich variety of habitats including bottomland forest, restored prairie, and an urban creek.

In addition, classrooms and an on-site computer laboratory offer research and instructional experiences that increase the scope of learning for students and teachers.

The center is located on a 34 acre tract of land near Tillis Park in Ladue. They got their first special use permit from the City of Ladue in 1991. Run as an ecological and environmental project, mainly for school aged children and summer campers, the center approached Ladue’s Zoning and Planning Commission to extend its summer hours by one half hour daily.

Existing operational hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Speaking for the center, John R. McFarland told the commission that findings show most elementary schools are out  of school at 3:30 p.m. so by the time they reached the grounds, there was only about a half hour for programs before closing time.

“We need a little more time to have productive programs,” said McFarland. The center still abides by regulations which mean no more than 50 visitors at a time on the site; no more than 30 visitors in any one group and no more than 60 visitors per day.

“We need a little flexibility to run our programs,” said McFarland.

Commissioner James Howe IV wanted to know if the extended hours would impact rush hour traffic. “Mostly, the groups come by school bus, so there’s no impact at all,” said McFarland.

The commission granted the request, extending the visitor hours to 5:00 p.m. daily.

The commission had a lengthy discussion concerning windmills and wind conversion devices in the community. Much of the discussion centered around permissible heights and what has already been allowed for cell towers. The general feeling was that windmills would be allowed the same height as homes--up to 45 feet. “That’s rather disingenuous because they’d never work at that restricted limit,” said commission chairman Peter Fischer.

The commission voted to send the issue back to the city council and to continue to monitor the issue as technology developed.

City Hall Note: Registration to run in the April 3 election begins on Tuesday, December 13 and runs until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 24. Three council seats will be contested this year.