This Land, Your Land

State parks officials will dedicate the new 22,547-square-foot coastal education and visitor center at Fort Macon State Park on Saturday, the Division of Parks and Recreation says.

The 1 p.m. ceremony is open to the public. Fort Macon, a stone Civil War fortress, is in Carteret County north of Atlantic Beach.

The $8.2 million, 4,000-square-foot center is devoted to environmental education about North Carolina's fragile coastal ecology and reflects the style of the 183-year-old fort. It has exhibit space, a teaching auditorium and conference room, and administrative offices.

The center was also designed to meet sustainability standards of the U.S. Green Building Council through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, the division's news release says. It has rainwater collection and low-flow water systems, recycled construction materials and preferred parking for alternative fuel vehicles.

Fort Macon became the second North Carolina state park in 1924 and the first to conduct regular operations as a state park. It encompasses 424 acres and recorded visitation in 2008 of 1.1 million.