Architectural drawings for the new Living History Farm building. (LHF photo)
An education center in central Iowa is working to become a year-round destination.
Living History Farm spokeswoman Elizabeth Sedrell says they’re building a cultivation center to replace the visitor’s center and provide more space. It will have year-round, air-conditioned exhibit space, administrative offices and new amenities, including a mother’s room, family restrooms and adult changing stations, Sedrell said. “At the same time, we’re going to renovate the current visitor’s center into a dedicated learning center for school groups to attend classes and day camps,” Sedrell said.
The Living History Farm was built in Urbandale in 1970 to preserve Iowa’s early agricultural history. “We have three farm sites that represent an Iowa Native American in 1700, a pioneer family in 1850 and a farmhouse in 1900. We also have a recreation of the town of Walnut Hill in 1876,” Sedrell says. Interactive activities will be held on the farm.
“At many of the sites, they can meet with historical interpreters who explain what they do and how people lived and worked the land at that time,” she says.
They recently broke ground to get the project started. “Fortunately, it won’t be in the way of tourists anywhere in town or on the farm. Once the building is complete, we’ll be able to renovate the current visitor’s center and plan to have a grand opening for the entire new facility, including the new picnic pavilion, in 2026,” Cedrell said.
The project’s fundraising goal is $6.2 million, and Cedrell said it has already reached 85 percent of that goal.
