A few months ago, I had the opportunity to go to the botanical gardens in Omaha, Nebraska ( http://www.omahabotanicalgardens.org/ ). If you've ever been to a botanical gardens you will notice that they are quite popular and they are always fun to tour.
Yes, we do already have somewhat of a botanical garden at the Mesker Park Zoo. However, this proposal would not compete with the zoo's. The Zoo is a specialty garden that specializes in tropical plants specifically and most people with Mesker Park Zoo have said that even that project is so popular that they probably built it way too small.
So what is a botanical garden specifically. Wikipedia gives the perfect definition. It says...
"Botanical gardens or botanic gardens are generally well-tended parks displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. They may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants or other exotic plants. Visitor services often include garden tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances and other entertainment.
Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations and often have associated herbaria and research programmes in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle their role is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the special interests pursued at each particular garden."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanical_gardens
From the research that I have done, botanical gardens can be a few acres all the way up to several hundred acres. For this reason, we will need to design one that will fit into our budget. How can we do this.
1. Work with USI and/or UE to set up a research institution at Roberts Stadium which would be funded with grants and endowments. USI already does most of the projects at New Harmony and I believe this project would fit right into their university goals.
2. Work with private donors. At today's county council meeting, Martha Crosley said she had an organization from Bloomington, IN wanting to plant natural forest trees as well as exotic plants and trees. She said they would plan on funding this proposal by endowments and grants as well. I firmly believe that with historic Wesselman Woods we can find plenty of organizations willing to do research and humanity work on the site.
3. Recruit sponsors: Many botanical gardens have sponsors, members, and contributors. Ones in Atlanta, Omaha, New York, and elsewhere usually have over 100,000 members and supporters of their gardens. While I'm not sure we would draw 100,000 supporters early on, I'm confident we can draw a good chunk of people to support the project.
4. Charge admissions but keep it reasonable. Most botanical gardens have admission fares ranging from $5-$10. Not only are the gardens a good tourist draw, they also are affordable enough to attract a large number of customers. I also believe we can attract enough people to offset the costs of the gardens.
With that being said, what would I propose the Wesselman Wood's Roberts Stadium Botanical Garden look like? I believe it should look like this.
1. The back parking lot is removed and replanted with botanical garden trees.
2. The lower level of Roberts Stadium has exotic plants, trees, and species for viewers to see up close.
3. The main level has an indoor greenway so that bikers and walkers have a place to go when it rains. The level is also a main hub for the greenway where residents can take a stroll through Evansville history.
4. Inside Roberts Stadium is a visitors center, a cafe, a shop, a bookroom with books on historical and exotic plants and trees, art designs, as well as classrooms for educational events.
Although building a botanical garden takes much work and dedication, I believe that we have a headstart since we already have 1. a $20 million building 2. A historic nature preserve 3. A front parking lot for guests to park to come to the garden.
A botanical garden inside of Roberts Stadium is a win-win for everyone.
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