CHICAGO | After a decade of discussion and preparation, construction is scheduled to begin this summer on the Ford Calumet Environmental Center museum.

In 2002, Ford Motor Co. Fund and Community Services provided the city with $6 million to build the environmental center, which will be located about two miles from the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant, located in the Hegewisch section. Construction was delayed by land-acquisition issues.

"The city recently concluded the process and construction will begin on the Ford Calumet Environmental Center in summer," Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said.

The Chicago Plan Commission recently approved plans for the 27,300-square-foot museum to be built at 134000 S. Torrence Ave. Construction should begin in June and an October opening is scheduled, according to a city of Chicago Web site.

"That is still the plan," said Larry Merritt, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Environment, Wednesday.

The center was designed by the Chicago architectural firm Studio Gang, which won a 2004 city-sponsored national design competition for the "green building" project.

The building, whose design has a bird's-nest theme, will feature a basket-like facade and will be built with recycled steel from the surrounding area's industrial district. Although home to the 4,000-acre Calumet Open Space Reserve of marshes, wetlands and prairies. the area also is one of Chicago's principal manufacturing districts.

Beside Ford, the project is being funded by the city of Chicago, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Chicago's Environmental Fund and through a fundraising campaign.

When opened, the museum will serve as an educational resource on the area's industrial, cultural and ecological heritage and as an operational base for research activities, environmental remediation and ecological rehabilitation. The facility also will provide a base for the about 100 volunteers who will be actively using the facility to promote stewardship for the area's environment.

Jorge Perez, executive director of the Calumet Area Industrial Commission, the environmental center will enhance the area, "and it gives the message that we're on the ball with the eco-green movement."

"We're excited that it passed the Plan Commission and building will proceed," Perez said. "It feeds off the Calumet land use plan that looks at opportunities for industrial projects and open space, and what can be preserved and reclaimed. It will be a great gem for the area."