flourish - from our CEO

Denver Botanic Gardens Continues to Transform and Flourish

Denver Botanic Gardens is about to take the first step in the historic transformation of the Gardens over the next several years. For a number of months, Denver Botanic Gardens, David Owen Tryba and Associates, Phipps Construction Company and our valued neighbors have worked side-by-side to develop plans for the expansion and transformation of the Gardens. Now the designs for a new parking structure and the Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center are complete, and construction is slated to begin later this year.

Created with the Gardens’ core values – Transformation, Sustainability, Diversity and Relevance – as the platform, the design and new construction incorporate energy-saving strategies with environmental sustainability in every aspect of the project. 

The partnership between our neighbors, the architects, builders and everyone at Denver Botanic Gardens will ensure that the Gardens will be recognized as one of the premiere botanic gardens in the world, and continue to be one of Denver’s richest cultural jewels for generations to come.

Aerial Perspective of Parking Structure

Atrium and Parking Complex (Opening Spring 2009)

To fulfill a central and early piece of the Master Development Plan, the Gardens will build a three-level parking garage (two levels are underground with a green plaza at the main level, which is at the current grade on the south end). The underground portion of the parking structure will run the length of the existing parking lot between York and Josephine streets, extending below what will eventually be the Mordecai Children’s Garden – at the north end of what is now the Morrison Center (the green field in the aerial perspective illustration above). There will be easy entrance/exit on both York Street and Josephine Street. The parking structure will increase the number of parking spaces from 180 to 320 and provide excellent security and accessibility for all. The entrance into the parking structure, facing west, will feature a 30 ft. living wall. All the other walls will feature green elements by the artistic use of climbing plants. The bottom level of the parking structure will feature an atrium with open views from all levels, making the garage airy and bringing in natural daylight.

The clearest opportunity for funding the parking structure is to work with the City of Denver to obtain a Certificate of Participation (COP), a secured loan through the city. The parking structure will not be funded by bonds passed in November 2007.

York Street Pedestrian Entry and
Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center (Opening Spring 2009)

The Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center provides a beautiful and accessible new entry experience to the Gardens. The new Visitor Center provides easier pedestrian flow and access to members, individual visitors and groups coming to the Gardens. The Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center will be built using insulated glass and other natural materials either obtained locally in Colorado or recycled from other parts of the Gardens. The design and construction teams are currently examining the use of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof that will provide energy and earth tubes that will cool and heat the facility in a much more sustainable fashion. The Gardens’ Gift Shop in the Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center will nearly double in size, be publicly accessible to anyone during regular hours and offer botanical merchandise, fair-trade items and environmentally sustainable gifts for every age.

The Visitor Center is being funded in large part through a generous donation from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. 

Onward!

Brian Vogt, CEO

Click here to view a PDF of our Master Development Plan (24MB). There are 90 graphics-intensive pages, so it will take a few minutes to load.