'Absolutely amazing' $3.5M renovation complete at Butler County's Succop Nature Park

It’s now more than a place to get married and take a walk.

About $3.5 million worth of renovations at the Succop Nature Park along West Airport Road in Penn Township, Butler County — a longtime park most recently known for its elegant country weddings — has turned an old barn into an environmental education center with a state-of-the-art windmill called a WindStax.

“We’re excited to finally have a full facility to engage the public,” said Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

The renovations to the T.W. Phillips Barn at the park, which has been undergoing upgrades since Audubon took over the site in 2011, are part of $7.2 million fundraising campaign celebrating Audubon’s 100th anniversary. The $3.5 million project at Succop included the barn renovation, a new parking lot and a nature play area, according to Rachel Handel, Audubon spokeswoman.

While Succop is popular with the public for its weddings in its historic mansion along with several miles of trails and two ponds, there wasn’t a dedicated space for nature programming and other events, Bonner said.

The renovation has brought not only additional space but new character and luster to the site.

Alongside the barn is a new addition: a vertical wind turbine. Long and tubular but with moving parts, like a vertical windmill, the turbine was made by the Pittsburgh-based company WindStax, which designs and builds custom ordered free-standing, steel frame, vertical axis wind turbines from 20 to 60 feet tall.

Audubon installed the turbine, which will generate between 8% and 12% of the total electricity for the site, according to Bonner.

Butler County commissioners, Penn Township supervisors, a number of past Audubon board members, and Tom Succop, who grew up on the property, were on hand in the last couple of weeks to celebrate the opening of the renovated barn with classroom space, a nature store, and a large upstairs barn area with much of the original wood intact.

“The transformation of this barn and this entire property is absolutely amazing,” said Succop. “There are 10 other people from the family here and we all thank you for your support to help keep this land open space forever – it was in jeopardy for a while.”

Succop Nature Park has a long history. First recorded as a farm in a deed dated in 1805, the main farm house, owned by the Maharg family, was built in 1830. The bank barn, which was refurbished by Audubon, was built in 1886, according to Audubon. In 1921, the home and property were sold to T.W. Phillips Jr., who was the son of the founder of T.W. Phillips Gas and Oil Company.

Phillips daughter, Margret Phillips Succop, and her husband, A. Craig Succop, purchased the estate and updated the house, which was a working farm, according to Audubon.

The couple invited the public to use the property for picnics and to collect fresh eggs. Margaret passed away in 1990 and Craig, passed away in 1996. The Succop’s eldest son, Tom, and his wife, Jo Ann, moved back to the family estate. The couple donated the estate to the Butler County Community College Education Foundation in 2001, then Audubon assumed control in 2011.