SIERRA VISTA - City officials and local middle school students gathered behind The University of Arizona Sierra Vista campus Thursday morning to celebrate the dedication of the city’s new plant sciences center.

Chilly weather did not damage the spirits of those who had worked hard over the last eight months to ensure the project’s fruition.

The center – a 2-acre facility where roadside salvaged plants will soon be arriving and hopefully thriving – is the work of the Sierra Vista Task Force on Plant Sciences established last January.

The land was donated by The University of Arizona Sierra Vista. The facility will consist of a fenced, outdoor plant storage area.

The original plan of the task force was to work to save endangered plants.

However, after much discussion, the group decided salvaging non-endangered species before they were lost to highway expansion would be more reasonable venture, said Pat Bell, city environmental services analyst.

As part of the dedication ceremony Thursday, Sierra Vista Councilman Harold Vangilder, who is chairman of the task force, dare to go where he once vowed never to set foot.

Wearing a pinstriped, navy blue suit and brightly colored tie, Vangilder removed his conservative brown shoes in front of the crowd and strapped on a pair of blue suede Birkenstocks.

Vangilder, who had previously said he would never be photographed in the footwear which is popular among many environmentalists, fastened the buckles of his new sandals while the cameras flashed in all directions.

Another surprise at the dedication was the debut of "Wettie the Waterdrop," who up until now had only been a voice on the radio, giving helpful hints on water conservation.

Wettie is part of The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension Water Wise program.

The program was inspired to create Wettie after reading a composition written by Sierra Vista resident Abbie Stewart when she was in the fourth grade.

Stewart, who is now a sixth-grader at Sierra Vista Middle School, wrote a short story about a raindrop’s journey through the water cycle. She was honored at the dedication with a plaque.

The idea to start a group dedicated to saving plants originally came from Vangilder’s wife, Carmelle. Mrs. Vangilder is an assistant principal at Apache Middle School.

Construction on the plant center is scheduled to start on December. It should be ready to receive plants beginning in January, Bell said.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has arranged with the state Department of Corrections to use prison labor to remove native plants from alongside Highway 90 before the widening project begins.

The uprooted plants will be transported to the center, then eventually used to beautify areas along city and state highways.

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