After many years in the planning and construction phases, the Arastradero Preserve visitor center, known as the Gateway Facility, finally opened to the public a few months ago. The small, rustic facility is located just east of the main parking lot on Arastradero Rd. and was designed to blend in with the surrounding foothills. [GP:aras_vc] The facility consists of three small buildings: the ranger’s office, the main visitor center, and the restrooms. It is a good example of green building design. The buildings were largely constructed out of recycled 
lumber from the Arastra house, which was a large ranch house located on the preserve that was torn down in 1997. Power for the buildings comes from solar panels on the roof of the ranger’s office. The rear wall of the main visitor center is insulated by 2 ft thick straw bundles, and large windows provide passive solar heating.
The highlights of the visitors’ center include a large relief map of the preserve in the center of the room, and three exhibits located along the back wall. The leftmost exhibit covers the wildlife native to the preserve including quail, raccoons, coyotes, bobcats and snakes. The center exhibit describes the three major plant communities found in the preserve: grasslands, oak woodlands, and riparian corridors. The rightmost exhibit presents the varied people who have inhabited these lands, including the Native American Ohlone tribes, the early European settlers, and ourselves.
It has certainly been a very long road leading up to the opening of the visitor center. The facility was apparently first proposed in the late 1990′s. This article from the Feb. 2, 2000 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly reported that the Palo Alto planning commission had just approved the plans for the center. But, the good news is that after 7 years it’s finally open for the public to enjoy!
