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The Nature Lodge at Sunset Park will hold an Open House on Sunday, Aug. 18 from noon – 2 p.m.

This free event will feature games, activities, and light refreshments. Guests can learn about the past, present, and future of the nature Lodge while they enjoy the view from lodge’s deck.

Sunset Park is a 90 acre park with 3,000 of shore on the Missouri river. Twenty-six acres were donated to the city by Joseph and Marie Desloge in 1964. The park was dedicated in 1967.

The Nature Lodge opened in April of 2009. Former Mayor Robert Lowery named the lodge after Mark Behlmann and Don Zykan, members of the Florissant Parks Foundation. The foundation was formed in 2005 to raise money and volunteers to build the Nature Lodge; the foundation is a private entity, not legally connected to the city.

The foundation continues to work for the Lodge. In June of this year, the foundation donated $10,000 to the city for use in the lodge, with suggestions on how to use the money. The foundation suggested outside items such as benches, picnic tables, Adirondack chairs, and a bicycle rack, as well as inside items such as kitchen equipment and educational materials.

The 2,400-square-foot Behlmann-Zykan Nature Lodge features views of the river, as well as classroom and meeting space for school field trips, business meetings, wedding receptions, parks programs and scouting activities.

Residents and non-residents can rent the lodge, either the entire building or just one floor. Items the city purchased with the June donation from the foundation included some things renters have requested, such as a large coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, and other kitchen equipment.

The lodge cost over $800,000 and was built with a combination of grants, individual donations, city and regional tax dollars, private fundraising and donated labor.

Local labor unions, particularly the Carpenters District Council Apprentice Training Program, provided skilled tradesmen to build it.