For nearly a decade, Matt Cosgrove has been the person most closely associated with the drive to create a new nature center in Webster County.

Now, his name will be associated with it forever.

The county Board of Supervisors surprised the conservation director earlier this month by announcing that the facility along the Des Moines River would be named the Matt Cosgrove River’s Edge Discovery Center.

Attaching his name to the center was a clandestine effort which only a few knew about. Cosgrove was taken by surprise at the July 11 dedication of the facility.

“This has been a dream project for him and we are so honored that it will bear his name,” Supervisor Mark Campbell said during the July 11 dedication event.

No one who knows Cosgrove was surprised that he immediately shared the credit for the center’s creation with a whole lot of other people. He said that if he were to recite the names of everyone who had a hand in the project, he would be talking until the sun went down.

He did indeed have a lot of help. But he led the way on the project with equal parts of determination and enthusiasm. And that is why the supervisors decided to honor him.

The facility that now bears his name, includes interactive exhibits and interpretive panels that educate visitors on a number of water-related topics including climate, clouds, watersheds, water quality, wetlands, glaciers, and more. An interactive exhibit allows children to visually see and climb around in a display that explains where water goes when it seeps into the soil. A nearby large exhibit teaches the water cycle and rain, and near the entrance to the center is an augmented reality sandbox which explains Iowa’s terrain.

It is an asset to the community and a tribute to his vision. Visitors will see his name on the building and know whose efforts resulted in its creation.

Cosgrove, meanwhile, may find it a little odd, at least initially, to be going to work every day in a building that is named after him.

We say, get used to it Matt because you deserve it.