By Nathan Handley — Sept. 27, 2016 — Union University partnered with the Jackson Woman’s Club and Friends of Cypress Grove to sponsor a new Nature Studies Building at Cypress Grove Nature Park in Jackson. The new building was dedicated Sept. 22 and will provide classroom and research space on site for tourists, school groups and researchers.
C. Ben Mitchell, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Union, said the partnership with Cypress Grove corresponds with Union’s mission to focus on teaching and research.
“Where else can great teaching occur better than at a place of such beauty and such wonder and such awe as Cypress Grove?” Mitchell said. “Our biology faculty has partnered together in research projects and will continue to do so here.”
Mitchell said students also spend time each year in service projects at the park as a way to give back to the community.
“We’re just excited to have a tiny part in the work that’s done here,” he said.
The Nature Studies Building includes classroom space and laboratory space as well as indoor habitats for small animals. Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said Union University and its students and professors have been instrumental in the continuing development of the park over the years. He said Cypress Grove is one of Jackson’s best kept secrets.
“People can come out and enjoy the outdoors, nature and wildlife almost within walking distance of downtown,” he said.
Gist was involved in founding the nature park in 1984, when he served as Jackson’s director of recreation and parks.
Pat Mingledorff, chair of the advisory board of the Recreation and Parks Department and a member of the Jackson Woman’s Club, said the dedication of the Nature Studies Building fulfilled a dream originated years ago by James Huggins, university professor of biology at Union.
“In 2005, Dr. James Huggins approached the city of Jackson with a dream that would provide a research lab and teaching facility at the park,” Mingledorff said. “We have so many people to thank for getting us here.”
Huggins offered the benediction at the dedication and said it has been an honor for him to work with the park.