{"id":245787,"date":"2026-03-31T23:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/245787\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T23:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:01:11","slug":"rolling-hills-estates-celebrates-groundbreaking-for-george-f-canyon-nature-center-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/245787\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling Hills Estates celebrates groundbreaking for George F. Canyon Nature Center \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the new George F. Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, in Rolling Hills Estates.<\/p>\n

Rolling Hills Estates Mayor Frank V. Zerunyan said the Nature Center will be a \u201chub for education, community gathering and environmental stewardship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re investing in this place as it will serve as a gateway to the great outdoors, hopefully for generations to come, as it had been for several generations previously,\u201d Zerunyan said. \u201cThis project certainly reflects what is possible at all levels of government, community organizations and dedicated partners come together around a shared vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrienne Mohan, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy executive director, said the Nature Center, as a \u201cgateway to the whole Peninsula,\u201d \u201cwill open doors for discovery, connection and fostering love of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place where families will come to explore, where neighbors can gather, and, perhaps most importantly, a place for young people,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cBecause when kids have the opportunity to step outside into nature, and they get their shoes a little dirty, they smell the freshness of trees, catch a glimpse of wildlife, they\u2019re going to develop curiosity, build empathy, and begin to see themselves as part of something bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rolling<\/p>\n

Rolling Hills Estates Mayor Frank V Zerunyan speaks at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"California<\/p>\n

California State Sen. Ben Allen speaks at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Assemblymember<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi speaks at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. Pictured are Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy Executive Director Adrienne Mohan, Councilmember Debby Stegura, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, Councilmember Britt Huff, Councilmember Velveth Schmitz and Mayor Frank V Zerunyan (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the George F Canyon Nature Center took place March 31, 2026, in Rolling Hills Estates. (Photo by Michael Hixon\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nature Center will feature custom kiosks, multimedia content and interactive exhibits \u201chighlighting the area\u2019s unique flora, fauna, geology and natural history, Zerunyan said.<\/p>\n

The design of the Nature Center has \u201csustainability in mind,\u201d Zerunyan said, including \u201cenergy efficiency systems, photovoltaic panels, the drought tolerant native landscaping, electric,\u201d along with vehicle charging stations.<\/p>\n

The building of the Nature Center was done through the help of community donations and volunteer work as well as county and state funding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Ben Allen was able to secure $1.2 million in funding, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn\u2019s office committed $500,000, and the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy awarded a $424.200 grant. The city of Rolling Hills also donated its Propostion 68, the Parks and Water Bond Act of 2018, funds to support to new Nature Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something so visceral about man\u2019s relationship with nature, and yet for so many of our young people growing up in this massive urban conurbation, that distance starts to grow,\u201d said Allen at the ceremony. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to connect with nature, and yet we know it makes such a difference to your mental health, to your your own sense of self worth, your ability to disconnect and your ability to manage the stresses of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Nature Center is closed, with completion expected by summer 2027, the nature trail continues to remain open and the PVPLS still hosts nature walks the first Saturday of the month as well as other events.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit pvplc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the future home of the new George F. Canyon Nature Center took place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,179,23,131,133,132,137,4065,89342,4066],"class_list":{"0":"post-245787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-headlines","13":"tag-long-beach-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-palos-verdes-peninsula","16":"tag-rolling-hills","17":"tag-rolling-hills-estates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}