MALABAR FARM STATE PARK -- A campaign to raise $2,000,000 in private-sector donations toward construction of a new education center at Malabar Farm State Park was launched today by the non-profit Malabar Farm Foundation. Foundation President Bruce Leimbach and Sam Speck, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), unveiled plans for a proposed 15, 000-square-foot Louis Bromfield Education Center, designed to serve educational, administrative and preservation efforts at the historic farm in southeast Richland County.

Leimbach also announced the foundation’s receipt of a $500,000 challenge grant from the S. O'Donnell family of Westerville, Ohio, as the campaign's initial pledge. "The prospect of this most generous gift challenges us to raise at least another $500,000 toward our ultimate goal," he said. "It is a splendid and exciting way to open our fundraising effort."

To help move toward its $2,000,000 goal, Leimbach said that the Malabar Farm Foundation has established the Louis Bromfield Society to honor donors to the new campaign and to serve as an ongoing vehicle to raise funds for other major projects at Malabar Farm State Park.

Malabar Farm was built in the 1940s and '50s by Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Hollywood screenwriter and early advocate of conservation farming. In addition to serving as a pastoral hideaway for his movie star friends, the farm was a pioneering showcase for environmentally friendly agricultural practices and was often referred to as the most famous farm in America. Bromfield died in 1956, and the farm was restored and dedicated as a 914-acre Ohio State Park in 1976. The Malabar Farm Foundation was established in 1993 to provide financial and advisory support for the park.

According to Leimbach, the Louis Bromfield Education Center will enable Malabar Farm State Park to expand its educational programming and services to the more than 350,000 visitors who come to the park each year. It will also help to reduce wear and tear on the Big House, Bromfield's 32-room home, which is one of north central Ohio's most popular tourist attractions and a hub for park activities.

Designed by Cleveland architect Dale R. Serne, the proposed Louis Bromfield Education Center will have three wings: one containing a 200-seat auditorium; a second to house administrative offices, Bromfield's personal archives and an agricultural research library; and a third to include an expanded book and gift shop.

Connecting pavilions will adjoin the wings and will feature exhibits on agriculture, conservation, Ohio's natural and cultural history, and Louis Bromfield's legacy as writer, conservationist and farmer.

Set in the rolling countryside of north central Ohio's Pleasant Valley, Malabar Farm State Park is located in eastern Richland County near Lucas, 15 miles southeast of Mansfield and 60 miles northeast of Columbus. Information regarding the fundraising campaign is available by contacting the Malabar Farm Foundation at (419) 892-2784 or on the Internet at www.malabarfarm.org.

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