Who says money doesn't grow on trees?
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens launched a $36.6 million expansion Monday that will increase its greenery -- both in plants and cash.
"We will be very close to the top as far as having the largest conservatory in the country," said Richard Piacentini, executive director of Phipps in Oakland. "The most significant part of this expansion is that the quality and diversity of exhibit space will make this the finest conservatory in the United States."
He made the comment after volunteers and donors broke ground for the project by planting miniature palms into vintage pots that had been used at flower shows over 30 years.
When the first phase is finished in the fall of 2004, visitors will take a gradually sloping walkway to a semicircular plaza ringed by Romanesque pillars. Inside, a new 10,885-square-foot welcome center, topped by a glass dome, will feature a 75-seat cafe, a bigger gift shop, visitors' lockers, elevators and restrooms.
This winter or next spring, construction will start on eight production houses and a new tropical forest conservatory. An indoor waterfall spanned by a catwalk will highlight this 12,000-square-foot addition.
The second phase consists of a new special events pavilion, a two-story education and administration building and additional parking for 94 cars and six buses.
The new amenities are expected to attract 250,000 visitors a year. That's 47 percent more than the 170,000 people who go there now.
That will mean more revenue from admissions and donations. The pavilion will provide rental income year-round rather than just the summer. The new cafe and expanded gift shop also will provide more money.
Piacentini predicts the expansion will increase revenue by $2 million. Phipps has an annual budget of $4.5 million.
"It's going to allow us to expand our operations and also allow us to increase the types and amount of programming that we can provide for the public," he said.
To date, the conservatory has raised $27.2 million from private donors, corporations, foundations and the state.
"Because of their generosity, we exceeded our Phase 1 fund-raising goal by over $3 million during one of the most severe economic downturns," said Jim Mitnick, former chairman of Phipps' board and head of the capital campaign for the expansion.
The conservatory scaled down the original plan to build a parking garage that would have required two entrances. It's hard to raise money for a garage, Piacentini said.
Phipps also shelved an early idea to develop a waterfall from the rain forest down into Panther Hollow. Instead, the waterfall will be inside the rain forest.
Piacentini said he prefers the latest plan to the $50 million earlier version because it's more efficient to operate and more attractive.
"It's going to be the most dramatic entrance to a public garden in the country," he said.
