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Construction on a new nonprofit center dedicated to protecting Minnesota’s state bird officially gets underway on Friday with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The $18.5 million National Loon Center in Crosslake, about 25 miles north of Brainerd, has been a decade in the making. It will include a visitor center and space for research and education.
The center aims to teach people how to conserve freshwater ecosystems that are vital to loons’ health, said Jon Mobeck, executive director.
“We’re acting as a very important international organization already,” Mobeck said. “But the facility gives us a place where people can come and experience it in a much more immersive and impressive way.”
The project started back in 2016, when Crosslake residents participated in a community visioning session. Several ideas were pitched but consensus quickly grew around one to create a center focused on loon conservation and tourism, similar to the International Wolf Center in Ely. Crosslake sits on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes, where hundreds of loons return every summer.
The National Loon Center already has been actively hosting educational activities while also funding research from its temporary location in downtown Crosslake.
It also hosts “floating classrooms” aboard a pontoon called the Steward Ship, where people can view loons and learn about the type of natural shoreline habitat they prefer.
Early plans for the new facility drew some criticism for being too close to the shore of Cross Lake, within a federal recreation area. Mobeck said he and the Center’s board of directors learned quickly that it wasn’t a good long-term home.
Instead, he said, they settled on a different location a couple of blocks inland, with ample space for solar and geothermal systems so the center will be eco-friendly.
“It will fit right into the environment, really putting it in a natural setting that is not going to impact the lake or the shoreland as it could have,” Mobeck said.
Minnesota is home to roughly 12,000 common loons, more than any other U.S. state besides Alaska. Found throughout central and northeastern Minnesota, they are easily recognized by their distinctive black-and-white markings and haunting call.
Loons face a variety of threats, including habitat loss, declining lake water quality, lead fishing tackle and injuries caused by boats. Climate change also is warming the temperatures of cold-water lakes, which affects nutrient-rich fish that loons like to eat.
The National Loon Center is expected to draw about 80,000 visitors a year and provide an economic boost to the community of Crosslake, a popular summer lake country destination.
“As those folks are visiting the loon center, they’re certainly going to visit our restaurants and take advantage of the lodging that we have and all the other amenities that Crosslake offers,” said Cindy Myogeto, director of the Crosslake Chamber of Commerce.
The project was funded through private donations and a grant from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, which receives money from the state lottery. The center is expected to open in the fall of 2026.
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