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Building an oasis in one of the most urban regions in America would be a challenge in the best of circumstances. The team planning construction of the San Gabriel River Discovery Center in South El Monte, California, has had to persevere aplenty.

鈥淚t started in 2004 and then was halted due to budget issues,鈥� said Laura Klinger, a senior associate with Hacker, which is designing the project.

Funding for the center dried up during the Great Recession. Then, in 2013, a local group called the Friends of the Whittier Narrows Natural Area began to oppose the project. Plus, the long delay has made other adjustments necessary.

鈥淭here has been some design changes,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e tried to stay true to the original vision.

鈥淭hey are doing a wetland and an open-air classroom.鈥�

When completed, the 13-acre project will include a 14,000-square-foot education center along with trails, riparian wetlands and a 116-car parking lot that can accommodate buses. The goal is to restore the area to a more natural environment and remove invasive species that have overrun much of the area.

Visitors 鈥渨ill be able to see the wildlife,鈥� said Roxana Marashi, a project manager with Azusa, California-based Watershed Conservation Authority. 鈥淭here will be interpretive signage. It will provide a lot of educational opportunities.鈥�

The regional center will be used to teach visitors about the San Gabriel River, which runs in the area. The team’s biggest priority continues to be making sure the watershed is protected, Klinger said.

鈥淎 lot of people aren’t really aware of the San Gabriel River,鈥� Marashi said. 鈥淚t’s good to make people aware of the environment, and that is what this project is mainly about.鈥�

More challenges for the design team include many members leaving for other jobs during the long project, dealing with geothermal wells under the land targeted for the parking lot and devising a complicated water recycling system.

Then there is the complicated land ownership that includes the city of South El Monte, Los Angeles County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

鈥淚t’s a complicated core of ownership,鈥� Klinger said. 鈥淭here are a lot of jurisdictional reviews of the project.

鈥淭he Army Corps of Engineers has some review of the program. But 鈥� no one knows exactly how much they will be reviewing.鈥�

Construction of stage one is set to begin in August. That portion will include most of the landscaping, wetlands, nature trails, a parking lot and classrooms.

鈥淭hey can have school groups come then,鈥� Klinger said. 鈥淗opefully that will generate excitement.鈥�

Stage two plans call for construction of the new education center to replace a smaller one that was built in 1940. But other project elements will come first.

鈥淲e have to put the infrastructure in before the new building,鈥� Klinger said. 鈥淔or a while we will have this big parking lot for the tiny building.鈥�

When that new building will be completed is still up in the air.

鈥淭here isn’t a full vision or schedule defined yet,鈥� Klinger said. 鈥淭he hope would be September 2018. It is possible if it keeps rolling.鈥�

Design Beyond Borders is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects outside of Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91视频 architecture and engineering reporter Kent Hohlfeld at 503-802-7224 or [email protected].