Charlottesville Botanical Garden: Difference between revisions

From Cvillepedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (supressing table of contents until longer article)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{stub}}
{{stub}}
__NOTOC__
==Background==
==Background==
In Spring of 2007, in response to the closing of Botanique owned by Sacillato, a local rare plant nursery, a discussion began about how the collection from Botanique might be saved, as well as create a destination for tourism in Charlottesville.  
In Spring of 2007, in response to the closing of Botanique owned by Sacillato, a local rare plant nursery, a discussion began about how the collection from Botanique might be saved, as well as create a destination for tourism in Charlottesville.  

Revision as of 14:06, 24 July 2009


Logo-small25.jpg This article is a stub. You can help cvillepedia by expanding it.


Background

In Spring of 2007, in response to the closing of Botanique owned by Sacillato, a local rare plant nursery, a discussion began about how the collection from Botanique might be saved, as well as create a destination for tourism in Charlottesville.

Lonnie Murray, in a conversation with Karen Firehock, learned that staff had discussed the idea of a botanical garden at McIntire Park as part of the new master plan for when the Meadowcreek Parkway is built. This led Murray to bring the idea to Robert Saccillato, the owner of Botanique and suggest that perhaps McIntire could be a suitable place to start a botanical garden and eventually house the existing rare plant collection.

On June 26, 2007, after the C-ville Weekly, listed a Botanical Garden in it's list of "15 things that are missing around here and why"[1], Murray informed C-Ville of the plan for a Botanical Garden being discussed, and it was covered in a later feature story, "City botanical garden in the works"[2] in which Firehock said “If we’re really going to be a world-class city, we need to seek out the amenities that other world-class cities have.”

Meanwhile, Sacillato, Murray and others began forming a non-profit, Charlottesville Botanical Garden to make an official proposal for a Botanical Garden in Charlottesville. According to the group's website it will "incorporate a mission which will expand the interest and value of the facility into a treasure of natural history". As discussions began, the possibility of other sites were also discussed including Morven or the parcel that will be donated for a park as part of the creation of Biscuit Run.

In 2008, another group surfaced to advocate specifically for a Botanical Garden at McIntire--McIntire Botanical Garden, spearheaded by Helen Flamini. Her efforts were covered in an article in the Daily Progress, June 22, 2008 entitled "Idea blooms for McIntire botanical garden"[3]in which the Parks Committee and City staff were quoted as being supportive of the idea.

In March 2009, a public meeting was held to discuss plans for a Botanical Garden at which, according to the Daily Progress[citation needed], Mayor Dave Norris voiced his support for the proposal.

Moving forward on any actual plan for a botanical Garden At McIntire is currently waiting on the Master Planning Process to begin for the eastern half of the park which will begin once building the Meadowcreek parkway has begin on the cities side.

History

The current proposals for a botanical garden garden in Charlottesville are not the first. According Lily Fox-Bruguiere a graduate Student at UVa. Thomas Jefferson originally planned a Botanical Garden at the University of Virginia and got as far as appointing someone to oversee the plans, before he died. [4]

According to Sallie Brown, in the 1930s, there was a bird and wildflower garden in McIntire Park. built as a Work Progress Administration project.[5]

External Links

Notes

  1. Daly, Kyle. "Wanted: a strip club, a Home Depot, a botanical garden and more sidewalks." C-Ville Weekly [Charlottesville] 26 June 2007: n. pag. C-Ville. Portico Publications, 26 June 2007. Web. 5 June 2009. <http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304062461064&ShowArticle_ID=11042506073652575>.
  2. Moltz, David. "City botanical garden in the works." C-Ville Weekly [Charlottesville] 3 July 2007: n. pag. C-Ville. Portico Publications, 3 July 2007. Web. 24 June 2009. <http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304064644348&z_Issue_ID=11042806071105444&ShowArchiveArticle_ID=11040207074596375>
  3. Rosen, Seth. "Idea blooms for McIntire botanical garden." Charlottesville Daily Progress. [Charlottesville] 22 June 2008: Daily Progress. General Media. Web. 22 June 2009.<http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/idea_blooms_for_mcintire_botanical_garden/23872/>.
  4. Web. 24 June 2009.<http://www.cvillepodcast.com/2009/06/11/charlottesville-right-now-lily-fox-bruguiere/>.
  5. Rosen, Seth. "Idea blooms for McIntire botanical garden." Charlottesville Daily Progress. [Charlottesville] 22 June 2008: Daily Progress. General Media. Web. 22 June 2009.<http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/idea_blooms_for_mcintire_botanical_garden/23872/>.