Next Play Date and Meetup:
10–11:30am on Thursday, April 9
NCMA Museum Park at the ellipse
Reopen Our Ecostation is a grassroots movement focused on reopening access to the play space at Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh, NC.
This website is an attempt to reconnect the children, families, and community who relied on the Ecostation as a place for connection, education, and nature-based play.
This website is also a nexus for ideas and taking action. Please leave your email below to stay in the loop for potential next steps.
In the meantime, let’s reconnect together in person, stay in touch, and be heard by the decision makers. Please let them know what the Ecostation means to you and/or the children in your life and that you want access to the play space reopened.
The Prairie Ridge Ecostation is part of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. On April 1, 2026 the Museum closed public access to the Ecostation and the Nature Play Space until at least Spring 2027. This announcement was made at 3pm on March 31, 2026 — two hours before the closure took place. The Museum and Ecostation are managed under the North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and are funded by North Carolina tax payers. Input from the families and community that use and rely on the Ecostation was never solicited or considered.
Let's Connect
Join us for a play date and meetup!
10–11:30am
Thursdays April 9 and 16
Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art
Let's meet at the ellipse — bring a blanket, some snacks, and we can talk in person about next steps and our desire to Reopen Our Ecostation!
Help spread the word! Please share, text, email, or print this flyer and get the word out. PDF also available
Stay in touch
Please leave your email to join this grassroots community movement and stay in the loop for next steps.
Your email address will remain private and only be used by the families working to organize a response to the long-term closure of the Ecostation. This is not a newsletter — you will simply receive pertinent emails from reopenourecostation@gmail.com. Alternatively, just email us directly for more info.
Be Heard
Please take a moment out of your busy day to let the powers that be know what the Ecostation means to you and the children in your life. Tell them how this closure will negatively affect you and demand a reconsideration of this heartbreaking decision. Please send your email to the following people:
Pamela B Cashwell
Secretary, North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
pam.cashwell@dncr.nc.gov
Dr. Denise Young
Director, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
denise.young@naturalsciences.org
Sarah Lowder
Development Officer at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Sarah.Lowder@naturalsciences.org
And the general email for the Museum
info@naturalsciences.org
You can simply email all three of these people at once, just copy-and-paste their email addresses: pam.cashwell@dncr.nc.gov, denise.young@naturalsciences.org, Sarah.Lowder@naturalsciences.org, info@naturalsciences.org
And please share your letter with us!
We would like to anonymously share people's letters as inspiration for others. Email it to reopenourecostation@gmail.com
Letters from our Community
Please read these amazing letters already sent to the leadership at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and get inspired for writing your own!
Please reconsider closing Prairie Ridge Ecostation. My children and I rely on this public space for education, access to green space, and socializing. Visiting the Ecostation and attending events there has been a critical part of my life as a parent for years. My kids learned to walk, climb, and play there. They listen to storytimes and learn about plants and animals from the dedicated staff who have watched my kids grow and know them by name. They met other children and developed lasting friendships.
When I learned, 6 days ago from a museum social media post, that the space would be closed the very next day, I was shocked and disappointed. My kids were expecting to attend storytime with Ms. Kiersten, and to play with friends in the play space, which was our regular Thursday morning activity. My kids don’t understand why the museum decided to close the space, and neither do I.
Someone from the museum responded to my questions on social media with a vague nod at safety. However, events are continuing to happen at the space. Why are those events safe? Why is access to a free, previously public space suddenly not “safe?” Why were kids and parents not given adequate notice of the closure so that we could make alternate plans for outdoor time, socializing, and learning? Why was parent and taxpayer feedback not solicited? Whose decision was this?
Please reconsider this abrupt closure.
Thank you,
I am a parent in Raleigh of two kids, 5 and almost 3. The Prairie Ridge Ecostation has had an incredible impact on our children and our family. We have met like-minded parents who aren't afraid of a little mud (or a lot!), our children have had invaluable sensory experiences, and they have learned to embrace the natural world. My oldest child was born in November 2020, an incredibly isolating time to have a child. When she was about 8 months old, I was in a full crisis over how to find other parents to connect with, and how to introduce my child to play in a healthy, values-aligned way that connected us to nature. My therapist (literally!) recommended the Ecostation.
Since 2021, we have been going to the Ecostation once or twice a week. We play in the cold when we're the only ones there, and we attend packed story times and nature play dates. We have made friends with many of the families who go there, and at one point the previous director, Emma, joked that she would need to make us ambassadors because so many people she met there said we had told them to go. It was literally a lifesaver, or life-giver, for us.
And that is why I am so disheartened by the decision to close the Ecostation until 2027. In kid-time, that is a huge amount of time -- think of all of the early childhood development that could happen in those long months. Seeing this decision makes me wonder if you all really understand how absolutely special and vital this nature playspace is for our children. It absolutely changed our lives and while I know the closure is in service of improvements, I ask that you reconsider your plans and find a way to remain open, at least in part.
Thank you for listening,
I’m a stay-at-home mom to a 1.5-year-old, and I’m really sad to hear the Prairie Ridge Ecostation play space will be closed for the next year.
We go there all the time. It’s one of the few places that actually works for this age. It’s safe, simple, and engaging. I can let my toddler explore, move around, and just be outside without overthinking it.
At this stage, everything is hands-on. She learns by doing. Prairie Ridge makes that easy. It’s also been a really reliable part of our weekly routine, which matters a lot when you’re home with a toddler all day.
A year is a long time in early childhood. This isn’t only a small inconvenience; it takes away a space that supports both parents and kids in a really practical, everyday way.
I understand the construction may be outside of your control, but I’m asking you to reconsider the full closure or explore options to keep some part of the play space accessible if possible.
This place matters to families like mine.
Thank you for your time,
Good evening,
I hope this email makes an impact.
I’m heartbroken to learn of the extremely abrupt closing of our beautiful learning space. As a homeschool mom, this was our second home. It was nothing but a pure disappointment to learn the day before-when we were there learning, that you were closing doors as of tomorrow!! As loyal visitors, it felt so poorly planned to never mention this until the day before. We plan learning sessions out MONTHS in advance, which 90 percent were supposed to be at Prairie Ridge.
Prairie Ridge was such a beautiful space for exploring minds to learn and grow! My son and his friends loved exploring the woods, digging in the dirt/sand, racing through the tunnel, and playing builder with sticks and rocks for hours. We learned so much about the seasons, animals, how to share, compassion and love for our environment, and true nature-based play at Prairie Ridge. With such a busy world we live in, nothing beats learning in a go at your own pace beautiful environment, and Prairie Ridge was that and so much more!
For whatever reasons you decided to abruptly close (which I feel we don’t have a true answer for), I ask you to reconsider. For the young minds who deserve a safe space to learn in, for the parents who trusted in you, and for the voiceless who can’t send you an email-please, please, reconsider!
With disappointment,
I'm not certain you're the right person to contact, but I'm sure you've received other emails about this. Hopefully you can either forward this along or let me know how to reach out to.
My family has been enjoying Prairie Ridge for years and have been members of the museum for as much time. We are very saddened to learn that the area will be closed for at least a year. I understand that there will be construction equipment in the area and that poses an issue for guests, but I have to believe there is a work around. Keirsten has also been so amazing with my children and I'd hate to think we won't see her again.
Under normal circumstances I'd have been happy to contribute to this new project, and I certainly will if there's a solution to be found. Consider this a firm donation commitment to go towards providing access to the play space.
Thank you for your time.