Greene County
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Design for Botanical Center Approved
At their regular monthly meeting Friday, Aug. 10, members of the
Springfield-Greene County Park Board approved the design of a
Botanical Center to be built in Nathanael Greene and Close Memorial
Park.
Approval of the building design is one more step toward seeing the dream of a botanical center in Springfield become a reality in 2009 according to Jodie Adams, parks and recreation director.
“This building will be the headquarters for everything botanical in the parks. Eventually, we will even have a botanical director housed there,” said Adams. “But best of all, when the building is complete, it will help to tie together all of the current and future botanical features and make this a real destination park.”
RAISING FUNDS
The Springfield-Greene County Parks sales tax that was passed in 2006 will generate $3 million to be used toward the construction of the Botanical Center. Another $600,000 is available or pledged from the City of Springfield, the Greene County Commission and early donors.
The design phase of the building has been funded largely by revenues earmarked from the 2001 park sales tax.
The building itself is expected to cost $4.3 million, with an additional $300,000 for furniture, fixtures and equipment. For an up-to-date accounting of the funds raised, please see the chart at right.
Friends of the Garden Inc. and University of Missouri Extension are both working to raise money toward the building.
The University of Missouri Extension Council for Greene County has established its own development committee and plans to reach out to University of Missouri alumni and other MU Extension partners.
“We are excited about the potential of this new building,” said David Burton, civic communication specialist with MU Extension. “Members of our council and fundraising committee have set some high goals for this year and are really focused on raising the money necessary to see this building completed.”
THE BUILDING
The Botanical Center itself will be a 12,700 square foot facility. The lower level office area of the building will be shared by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, University of Missouri Extension and Friends of the Garden and will include classrooms and a multipurpose room.
The building has been designed to overlook Drummond Lake in the Close Memorial Park and will be an environmentally friendly development.
The Botanical Center will provide a new public home for MU Extension and its Master Gardener program as well as other Extension programs. It will be used by other plant societies and garden clubs. Many believe the center will become a regional draw for both tourists and gardeners.
“The classrooms in this building will be a perfect fit for our horticulture specialist and our Master Gardener program, along with other programs that MU Extension offers,” said Burton.
Once completed, the building will be owned by, and maintained by, the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department.
THE HISTORY
Nathanael Greene Park is a 59-acre tract received as surplus property from the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Prisons in 1975. Over the years, the land has been gradually developed to include the Japanese Stroll Garden, the Gary Campbell Homestead and University of Missouri Extension’s Master Gardener’s Demonstration Garden.
The 55-acre Close Memorial Park was established in cooperation with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board in 1998. The purchase of the land was made possible by a donation from the C.M. Close family. In that same year, Friends of the Garden Inc. was founded as a support group for Close Park.
By 1999, thanks to a trust fund from the Close family, work on the first garden in Close Park began. In 2000, Friends of the Garden began planting ornamental trees in the park, a rose garden was developed and the lake was stabilized
A grant in 2003 from the Missouri Department of Conservation helped to further expand Close Park and turn the one-time tangle of prickly locusts, Osage orange and brush into an inviting open park. And every year since that time – thanks to funds from the Close family and the work of volunteers – additional gardens have been added and expanded.
The first concerted effort to raise private funds for the botanical center began in 2003 following the initial architectural design and estimate.
On Oct. 20, 2006, the Springfield-Greene County Park Board approved a master plan for the Botanical Complex at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park. That master plan includes 33 distinct gardens to be developed over several years.
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You can contribute to the effort to build and sustain a botanical center in Springfield by helping University of Missouri Extension meet its fundraising goal. Make checks payable to University of Missouri with Greene County Extension/Botanical Building in the memo portion of the check. Checks can be sent to the MU Extension Development Office, 109 Whitten Hall, Columbia MO 65211 or to the Greene County Extension Center, 833 Boonville, Springfield, Mo. 65802. Learn more by reading this informational brochure.
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Greene County University of Missouri Extension Center Site maintainer: David Burton - burtond@missouri.edu Updated 10/07/09 |
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