CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Wade Bourne Nature Center opened this weekend with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Rotary Park.

The new center is named for Wade Bourne, esteemed writer, outdoorsman and conservationist. An accomplished radio host, Bourne founded the Wired2Fish/Hunt Radio show, which aired on over 250 stations. He was editor-at-large for Ducks Unlimited Magazine, a senior writer for Bassmaster Magazine and a contributing author to several other major outdoor publications. He published 6 books on hunting, fishing and conservation.

Borne passed away in 2016 at the age of 69. The new nature center is dedicated to his life and work.

The new nature center includes a large gallery space for events and exhibits, a central lobby with educational installations and a children’s play area. There is a also a permanent installation depicting the life and career or Wade Bourne for whom the center is named.

Speaking at the event were architect Lane Lyle, Customs House Museum Director Frank Lott, Ducks Unlimited President Doug Shoenrock, Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, and Bourne’s wife, Becky.

Durrett called the new center, “a gem in our entire parks system.”

“I know back after Wade passed, we had a master plan for this park. We actually had a little nature center on the left. I just felt in my heart we needed to do something more. Unfortunately, with Wade’s passing, it creating the vision to do something more, and here we are cutting the ribbon at this beautiful facility, “said Durrett. “Hopefully this will be a lasting legacy to him.”

“My personal hope is that this building and this program will be a prototype for other communities without nature centers to reach their own young and old, and to educate children,” said Becky Bourne. “With that, I end. And I just say thank you for coming, and I to end with that joyful tag line that Wade always used at the end of every radio show, which is now the mission of this nature center. Get outside.”

Bourne was the one to cut the ribbon, officially inviting visitors into the new facility.