Waterman Center will celebrate its 25th Anniversary with a weekend of activities May 11 - 13. The celebration will feature the unveiling of Redmond, the red-tailed hawk's, new home and exhibit area, the interactive songbird exhibit, and live bird of prey programs from Jonathan Wood of the Raptor project.

In February 1976, the Board of Directors of the proposed Environmental Education Center started looking for a 200 acre site on which to build a center where people could learn about nature. Lolita Waterman donated part of her family farm in Apalachin  on the condition that it always be used as a nature center and that it be named for her late husband, Fred L. Waterman. 

The center then acquired the former Faith Lutheran Church building which is now the interpretive building.

In 1977, Brick Pond, 24-acres of marshland on East Front Street in the Village of Owego, was donated to Waterman Center by Peter B. Ellis and set aside as a wetland conservation park.

In 1988, concerned citizens raised funds to buy Hiawatha Island, which lies in the Susquehanna river between Owego and Apalachin. They succeeded in purchasing the property, and donated it to Waterman Center as a wildlife refuge and education center.

For more than 10 years, Waterman Center has managed the Apalachin Marsh, a protected wetland owned by the State of New York Department of Transportation. The marsh is between the east and west bound lanes of Route 17 near Marshland Road.

Waterman Center's four wildlife refuges are open everyday during daylight hours. Waterman's main site

on Hilton Road, is open 7 days a week from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm for the public.