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The Campus

The Wolf Ridge residential buildings are located on a welldefined arrowhead-shaped ridge of approximately 70 acres. Theridge top campus consists of two dormitories, a large foodservice center, a classroom building, an administration buildingand a central heating and maintenance complex. In April 2000, asecond education building with a specific focus on scienceeducation was completed and available for use.

Other buildings located elsewhere include a forest ecologybuilding, a wetlands building that is used as a ski center duringthe winter, and an air quality monitoring station located nearSawmill Creek that also serves as a remote classroom for wildlifeand forestry classes conducted in that area.

West Dormitory: Provides housing for Wolf Ridges 15 graduate students and lodging for up to 190 visiting students and adults. The dormitory features a central great room which contains a fireplace and three story windows which overlook both Sawmill Creek and the Baptism River. Normally schools that schedule for 3-day stays are assigned to this dormitory.
East Dormitory: Wolf Ridge’s newest dormitory was designed to accommodate adult and family groups on weekends and during the summer. The dorm contains two large gathering rooms and in-room bathrooms. Normally schools that schedule for 5-day stays are assigned to the East Dormitory.
Science Building: In April of 2000, the Science Building was completed and ready for use. It houses classrooms, an auditorium, a three storey indoor climbing wall, a retail store, and uses a solar panel and wind generator to powe some of the classrooms. Also residing in the Science Building is office and work space to accommodate Wolf Ridge’s growing university program for environmental educators plus a library which includes an extensive natural writing section.

 

"The site and building design should create instruments with which to teach lessons about our environment. The design goals should be environmental harmony and experiential learning."

- Ron Kirk, Wolf Ridge Design Team Leader

 

Education Building: This building contains a second three storey indoor rock climbing wall, auditorium, small greenhouse, and a number of classrooms.
Administration Building: All of the Wolf Ridge program and administrative staff are located here. The administration building also contains a large library/board room and a fireplace gathering space that is used for special functions. Be sure to visit this building while at Wolf Ridge and view the numerous displays.
Food Service Center: During the school year Wolf Ridge uses two separate dining halls, each containing its own serving line. The dining halls seat 216 and 140. Using two lines and two dining halls was a recent decision that has reduced the standing in line time by more than 50%.
The Wolf Ridge
Campus demonstrates:

• photo voltaic
• composting toilets
• gray water system
• wind generated energy
• off peak electricity
• wood fueled space heating
• a state of the art septic system
Forest Ecology Building: The Forest Ecology Building contains three large classrooms and was designed to utilize indoor composting toilets and an indoor gray water system. During the school year students normally spend a full day at this location doing a pair of activities. During the snow season a snowshoe or ski class is usually matched up with a wildlife or forest management activity.
Ski Chalet/Wetlands Building: The ski chalet located at the beginning of the Raven Lake ski trails receives its energy from the sun. Learning about the photo voltaic panels is just the first of many new experiences students have here. During the summer months it serves as a classroom for the Wetlands Ecology class.
The OME Building: In 1991 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment employed Wolf Ridge to monitor the air quality. In addition to housing a variety of scientific instruments, the weather platform also collects acid rain data for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The OME support building was constructed large enough to provide indoor study space for students involved in the stream ecology classes conducted on nearby Sawmill Creek.

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