Marion County will soon add another attraction for nature lovers. The former home of Trella H. Romine at 1536 Whetstone River Road North, Caledonia, will officially become the Terradise Nature Center on November 3, 2018. A public event, including an open house and walking tour, as well as ribbon-cutting will start at 1 PM and continue until 4 PM.

When Trella passed away in 2013, she left a legacy which she wanted to be shared with others. To that purpose, in 1998 she donated 12 of the original 18 acre tract along the Olentangy (Whetstone) River to form the Marion County Park District’s first property, the Terradise Nature Preserve.  Upon her death, the house and 6 remaining acres were inherited by her son David Haldeman with the intent that a Nature Center be formed to share the horticultural resources as well as the extensive library of books on nature and natural history. His gift of this land and house to the Terradise Nature Center, Inc. completes the transformation of this property, which Trella indicated she was only “borrowing” for her lifetime.

Many things are planned for the Terradise Nature Center, including a series of programs featuring local and regional experts on varied topics such as native plants, wetlands, astronomy, geology, rivers, Native American presence, birds, animals and many other subjects.

The Nature Center will be available to interested groups for meetings, retreats, lectures and research. In addition, members of the Nature Center may spend time browsing and reading books from the library of well over 1,000 titles in Trella’s personal library as well as acquisitions from her late cousin Thomas E. Hemmerly, Botany Professor at Middle Tennessee University, and others.  Details on joining the Terradise Nature Center can be found at terradise.org