ClearWater Conservancy officially broke ground on Tuesday morning for the Hamer Community Conservation Center, a long-anticipated project that will serve as the organization’s first permanent headquarters and as a hub for conservation and education amongst the community.
Located at 1601 Houserville Road along a quarter-mile of Spring Creek, the 10-acre site will host the new 10,392-square-foot, two-story center and allow for ongoing restoration of streambanks and riparian buffers in the heart of the Spring Creek Watershed.
“We are as excited as all of you are to have you share the excitement about our new Hamer Conservation Center,” Donnan Stoicovy, president of ClearWater’s Board of Directors, said as she welcomed attendees. “We know that it’s been a long time coming…. We’re so pleased to be able to share the construction of our new home that is about to become a reality right here across from Spring Creek, right in central Pennsylvania.”
Stoicovy emphasized that the center will be used not just by ClearWater staff, but by the broader community.
“We will be providing a place to meet and connect in the community room so that it’s not just for us, but for the community,” Stoicovy said. “On our property, we’ll engage landowners in programs to learn about conservation practices. We’ll educate through model pollinator gardens and other riparian plantings, so that you can see the effects of having those things.”
Named in honor of the late Don Hamer, a former board president and lifelong supporter of the organization, the center recognizes the man who left a lasting impact on the local conservation movement.
“Don was a longtime board member. He was a president, and he supported things like this. He would be thrilled if he were here to see this happening in our new conservation center,” Stoicovy said.
The Hamer Foundation provided leadership philanthropic support for the project. The center also received major grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission, Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Community Conservation Partnerships Program, West Penn Energy Fund and Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, as well as private donations from individuals and organizations through a $10 million capital campaign launched publicly in 2023 to support the facility and expanded conservation efforts throughout Centre County.
“This is a powerful step,” Stoicovy said. “We’re expanding out the walls of the Patton Township building that we’re in. And so we’re ready for this. It’s the next step for us. Well deserved.”
The new center will expand ClearWater’s capacity for conservation programs and community engagement in stewardship of local land and water. It will include workspaces for staff and partners, indoor and outdoor areas for public events and workshops, demonstration sites for best practices and direct connections to nature with accessible trails to the creek.
Materials from the original barn on the site were salvaged and are being repurposed in the creation of the new facility including floor joists milled into the main entrance façade siding, interior architectural elements from existing barn doors, hardware and site benches.
The building, designed by architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, will have basement-level workshop and program support spaces, private and open office areas, a library, a large meeting/community room, a kitchenette and flexible gathering areas,
The center will also utilize solar panels, geothermal systems, and landscaping that incorporates original stone foundations will complement the timber-framed barn structure.
Construction, which is being managed by Alexander Building Construction, will begin in the next few weeks and completion is expected in August 2026.
It’s the next step in an evolution for ClearWater Conservancy, which was established in 1980.
ClearWater founder Barbara Fisher explained how the organization originated from citizen efforts to stop a mall from being developed on farmland in Ferguson Township, which set the stage for the Tudek family to purchase and donate the land that became Tom Tudek Memorial Park.
That effort sparked the need for a formal organization.
“We needed to design a craft where there would be a way for like-minded citizens of similar values to come together and make a significant difference when confronted with the changing challenges of their neighborhood,” Fisher said. “It needed to be constructive. It needed to be very positive and permanent.”
That vision led to the formation of ClearWater Conservancy, with support from mentors at the Brandywine Conservancy in southeastern Pennsylvania. Jim McClure, a founding member and the organization’s first president, came up with calling it the “ClearWater Conservancy.”
Fisher honored Don Hamer’s early contributions, calling him “our navigator.” She described his creativity and support for efforts such as the Spring Creek Watershed Resource Plan and the hiring of the organization’s first part-time volunteer staff.
“To move forward with this journey downstream, it is very special to have our very own harbor for the first time,” Fisher said. “It can facilitate a laboratory of ecology for our children to thrive, for our children to learn to live in harmony with their environment. And to be able to be close to nature with all the gifts and wonders it has to offer, all of us, to share together and enjoy,”
Eric Bernier, chair of College Township Council and a Centre County native, said ClearWater Conservancy has played a “vital role” in the quality of life that he, his children, his grandchildren and other residents have experienced.
He added that College Township is proud to host ClearWater’s next chapter.
“Along with our manager, Adam [Brumbaugh], I can’t tell you how excited we were when first approached about this opportunity to work with ClearWater on this project,” Bernier said. “It’s long overdue, and well deserved. On behalf of council, the College Township staff, and all the residents of College Township, I want to officially welcome ClearWater to their soon-to-be new home and look forward to a ribbon-cutting type ceremony hopefully in the very near future.”
State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, who grew up in Houserville, shared personal reflections about his childhood near Spring Creek.
He recalled fishing, exploring and selling bait with his siblings. “We would find rocks, break them apart, look for fossils, and obviously learn to love to fish,” he said. “I want more children to do that, get outdoors and see what we’ve been given by our Creator.”
Benninghoff praised ClearWater’s vision and decades-long commitment.
“It’s not just about today, but it’s about what you’re investing for tomorrow. God bless each one of you who have taken the time, the energy, to see the vision here because it’s not just about today, but about what you’re investing for tomorrow,” Benninghoff said.
Sonia Kaufman, district office director for State Senator Paul Takac, also shared prepared remarks on Takac’s behalf.
“This [groundbreaking] feels very personal,” Kaufman said. “It is the culmination and celebration of a dream that so many of us have worked on for so long.”
Current executive director Elizabeth Crisfield, who took the helm last year, reflected on ClearWater’s 45-year history and the leadership that paved the way. Looking ahead, Crisfield shared her hopes for how the center will deepen conservation efforts through public programming and education.
“From the late 1700s until ClearWater purchased the property in 2021, the Housers, the Baylets, the Umbergers and Rockenbecks all cared for this land,” she said. “In all likelihood, this is the end of land ownership changes for this property. The ClearWater community will be stewards of this land forever.”
The new center will give ClearWater the ability to work with more volunteers and community members, which in turn will broaden the scope of its goals “to connect, protect, restore and steward the natural environment in Centre and surrounding counties,” Crisfield said.
She cited several examples envisioned by the conservancy.
“We can actually teach native plant and tree identification,” Crisfield said. “We can offer fishing mentorships. We can do macroinvertebrate workshops and wellness events. We can have agricultural workshops to teach people best management practices that keep the streams clean.
“We can inspire landowners to protect and conserve their own land. We can collaborate with community partner organizations and really support the entire nonprofit community here to elevate their offerings to the community. We can do demonstrations of riparian buffer maintenance and training for water quality monitoring and just so many things that this facility will make possible for us to provide to the community.”
Once completed, the Hamer Community Conservation Center will serve as a visible and lasting symbol of ClearWater’s mission to connect, restore and protect the natural lands and waters that make central Pennsylvania home.
