The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is in a major growth mode, hoping to attract more tourists.
Candance Castlen Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s an amazing tool for economic development. People talk about The Garden as one of the places they like best in the community.”
Friday evening, The Garden announced a $2.8-million capital campaign that includes a $1.1 million event center where The Cottage is now.
“We don’t have indoor space for events,” Laurna Strehl, the Garden’s executive director, said of the need for the event center.
Weddings at The Garden are now dependent on the weather. But the event center will offer a backup plan, she said.
Strehl said fundraising began in late August 2021 and has already reached $1.9 million in pledges.
“We have deposited over $1 million to date,” she said, “with commitments to come in incrementally over the next five years.”
Strehl said the $2.8 million includes $800,000 to purchase WeatherBerry, an historic 4,000-square-foot home built in 1840 and convert it into a visitor center; $900,000 to hire a landscape designer to plan and implement the expansion and integration of new gardens and create green spaces “that promote interaction, including visitor features across the new eight acres of land, in addition to reserves for ongoing maintenance” and $1.1 million for the event center to provide more educational and event space.”
She said, “We purchased the WeatherBerry home at 2731 W. Second St. in September of 2020 and had to modify some of it and the property around it to satisfy planning and zoning requirements, including construction for Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.”
Strehl said, “We improved the asphalt driveways and have added 33 parking spaces beside the home. We completed significant tree removal of unhealthy trees and some that interfered with the asphalt expansion. We have nearly completed the Path of Hope and Healing.”
That’s a 300-foot path that is lined with 12 glass ribbons, each with a different color, representing the 12 most common cancers in Kentucky.
The path also includes a 21-foot tall butterfly sculpture, created by local glass artist Scott Poynter and local metal artist Chris Schartung.
Strehl said, “We hired a landscape designer for a master plan and rendering for the landscape at the entrance at Second Street. The granite sign has been constructed and is awaiting some landscaping to happen this fall.”
The event center has been designed by RBS Design Group, she said.
Friday evening, The Garden also unveiled an ornate street sign that honors Dr. Bill and Susie Tyler, who donated the original eight acres of land to start the botanical garden in 1993.
The entrance to The Garden is now “Dr. Bill & Susie Tyler Blvd.”
Marcia Carpenter and Darrell Higginbotham are campaign co-chairs.
“There is something in each of us that longs for the tranquil healing power of nature,” Carpenter said. “The Botanical Garden enhances the nature experience and contributes to quality of life and economic growth of the community.”
Higginbotham said The Garden “has endeavored to seek community investment in the growth and expansion of The Garden for the first time in our history. The pathway has been prepared and we are asking you to take the journey with us.”
Brake said each year in Leadership Owensboro they talk about The Garden as a “strong example of community leadership” with what the Tylers did to create it.
