The Westside Community Center was recently awarded a Community Needs Grant from the Community Foundation. The grant, totaling $4,200, is allowing the WSCC to move forward in developing an aquaculture center and laboratory.

The new venture provides an opportunity for visiting groups to learn and contribute to the environment in a positive way by sharing information about the Chesapeake Bay, its inhabitants and life-cycle.

Housed at Cedar Hill Marina, the Westside Aquaculture Center is expected to open later this summer.  As it is located directly on the Nanticoke River, it will focus on growing native species of the Chesapeake Bay including oyster, blue crab, rockfish, turtles and striped bass.  The center will offer a wide range of program curriculums, with a focus on raising awareness of critical environmental issues, providing education on the complex ecology of the bay and giving participants a hands on role in bay restoration and conservation.

The Westside Aquaculture Center is the latest enhancement to the WSCC's Adventure Education & Experiential Learning Program.

Built to accommodate groups, the program also offers lessons in hunting and gathering, survival skills, farming, team building and Eastern Shore heritage.

The program is self-sustaining, with participants paying $7 per person.

For more information on the Westside Community Center and its Adventure Education & Experiential Learning Program, please visit the county Parks and Recs website or call Calvin Krauss at 410-873-2933.