Crosslake’s National Loon Center Prepares for Groundbreaking of New Campus

The city of Crosslake is hosting the second annual Loons & Lakes Festival next week on June 20th and 21st, and one of the highlights of the festival will be the groundbreaking of the National Loon Center’s brand new campus.

The campus will be a three-story building, with one story for each phase of a loon’s life: in the air, nesting, and in the water. The project will cost nearly $20 million, and most of that money has been acquired through private donations.

The center’s hope is to draw more attention to the protection and conservation of Minnesota’s state bird.

“Our real hope is that people that come, they come into the center and they leave with just a better understanding of loons and our lakes and Minnesota, and we get to celebrate them and also just a better understanding of education of them, and they’re able to share that education with other folks,” said Lucy Bock, the National Loon Center’s community impact and development specialist.

The campus will be on a 10-acre plot in Crosslake on the corner of Swann Drive and Pioneer Drive. The groundbreaking will be held on Friday, June 20th at 3:00 p.m.

More information on the National Loon Center can be found on their website.