Located just outside of Centre Hall, Penn’s Prairie Park is a 165‑acre community park designed to be a welcoming destination for visitors of all ages and abilities. Existing features include trails, a library ADA StoryWalk, two athletic fields, an 18‑hole disc golf course, a pavilion, and a new playground. Eagle Scouts have added a rustic pavilion, fire pit, picnic tables, and a redeveloped bike skills course, while the Girl Scouts have created a small pollinator plot. After years of steady volunteer effort, the park is beginning to come into its full potential.

In Spring 2025, the Park Board designated four acres as a Pollinator Parcel. The goal is to transform the existing meadow, already largely free of invasive species, into a thriving pollinator garden filled with native plantings and habitat features such as a solitary bee “hotel.” This project directly enhances the visitor experience by adding beauty, food and shelter for pollinators, and hands‑on educational opportunities for all visitors.

This grant will fund groupings of native perennials, 5 plant identification signs, and a solitary bee hotel. These are tangible, lasting improvements: native perennials will spread over time, offering blooms (pollinator food!) spring through fall, the bee hotel will support cavity‑nesting species for years, and the signs will help visitors learn to recognize and value native plants.

The project also invites broad community involvement. Two local organizations have already committed to assisting with planting, and the park will promote volunteer opportunities to the wider community. As the garden grows, it will serve as a living classroom. A scripted educational pollinator walk, already developed, will eventually be paired with four larger interpretive signs, and combined with this project’s signage and bee hotel, will enable any educator or community leader to guide groups through the space and learn about native species and pollinator conservation.