When officials at Penn’s Morris Arboretum drew a master plan for the garden back in 1977, one of the centerpieces was a horticulture center—a multi-use facility that would both give the Arboretum’s horticultural staff a home and help them better serve the public.
Thirty years later, that horticulture center is finally going to be built.
Arboretum officials say they expect to break ground late this year on the center, which will provide much-needed office and meeting space, including new classrooms and a large public meeting space for lectures, seminars and special events.
“This facility has been part of our master plan since 1977, and we’re finally achieving that,” says Paul Meyer, director of the Arboretum. “It’s really the culmination of 30 years of planning and implementation.”
The $26 million facility will be both beautiful and rustic, with a design (pictured above) intended to celebrate the history of the Wissahickon Valley and reflect the look of the Arboretum’s existing 19th century barn. But the building, to be located across from the main Arboretum entrance on the Bloomfield Farm property, will be more than just pretty—it will also be the “greenest” building Penn has ever built.
With the help of a $75,000 Green Building Initiative Planning Grant from The Kresge Foundation, Arboretum officials aim to make the horticulture center the first Penn building to ever achieve Platinum certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council to provide a recognized standard for environmental sustainability in construction and design.
In fact, if all of the green building goals for the facility are achieved, the center will be the first newly constructed not-for-profit Platinum LEED building in the Delaware Valley, and only the second Platinum building in the entire state.
“I think one of the things that is remarkable here is that the arboretum developed this plan 30 years ago, and then we stuck with it,” Meyer says. “We implemented this plan one step at a time.”
Certainly, the Arboretum has come a long way since the 1970s, when it faced an uncertain future, limited resources and ragged-looking garden spaces. Slowly but surely, the Arboretum has been brought back to its original glory.
The past year, especially, has seen the completion of several high-profile projects in and around the Arboretum’s 96-acre Chestnut Hill property. The Pennock Flower Walk, which evokes the feel of John and Lydia Morris’ original floral borders, is among the newest garden features, while at the garden’s main entrance along Northwestern Avenue, new fencing, gates and lighting have created a much warmer welcome for visitors. “I think that entrance is important for us,” Meyer says. “It really helps us present the arboretum to people passing by as an important cultural institution.”
Maintaining these new features will be made easier by a recent $252,000 grant from The Pew Charitable Trust, Meyer adds. The three-year grant will help fund the Arboretum’s day-to-day operations.”
For more information about the Morris Arboretum, visit www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum.
Originally published Jan. 24, 2008
