The 3.5 million dollar upgrade to Mill Creek Park's Nature Center is expected to be complete by next Spring. The upgrades will mean more space for learning and a completely renovated facility.

However, the upgrades will require more power and due to this demand, the plan requires several trees to be removed, which has many residents furious.

Georgia Newton, who lives in Mill Creek along the pathway where the trees are being taken out, says, " We live in A historic District and right here, you can see these healthy trees are getting destroyed and the animals are going crazy at night."

The new facility requires a 3 phase power line to be put into place, requiring bigger and strong utility poles.

Mill Creek Park says the extra electricity is needed because the facility will be larger and they will be adding new learning labs and a new elevator.

To get more power to the nature center, Mill Creek turned to First Energy and asked them you come up with a plan to make this happen.

FirstEnergy Spokeswoman Lauren Siburkis tells 21 news that they looked at several alternative methods to add new power lines and the location they picked along Volney Rd. had the least environmental impact.

According to FirstEnergy, they already have power equipment along this area, leading to choosing Volney Rd.

"We understand that the removal of the trees has caused a lot of frustration with many customers. However, this was requested by Mill Creek to meet the energy demands of the nature center. It will also provide many benefits to the customers in the area because it will provide greater flexibility to restoring your power after severe weather and accidents. Even though it be maybe a nuisance right now but in the end, it will pay off and enhance your electric service," said Lauren Siburkis.

The plan is to have the nature center completed by Spring of 2022.