Atlanta Botanical Garden

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Atlanta Botanical Garden
Type	Private Non-profit
Founded	1976
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Key people	Mary Pat Matheson, CEO Ben Bradley, COO Diana Champ Davis, Business Director Fontaine Huey, Director of Institutional Advancement Mildred Pinnell Fockele, Director of Horticulture Sabina Carr, Director of Marketing
Employees	70+-
Website	www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org

The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a 30 acre (12 hectare) botanical garden located within Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden contains several different landscapes to display a variety of plants. Near the entrance are formal gardens, such as the Japanese garden, the herb garden, and the rose garden. Two woodland areas, the 5 acre Upper Woodland and the 10-acre Storza Woods feature large trees and shade-loving flowers and undergrowth. The Children's Garden features whimsical sculptures, fountains, and interpretive exhibits on botany, ecology, and nutrition. The 16,000 square foot Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory contains indoor exhibits of plants from tropical rainforests and deserts. The rainforest room of the Fuqa Conservatory is also populated by tropical birds, turtles, and an exhibit of poison dart frogs, which are part of a collaborative effort between the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Zoo Atlanta (www.saveafrog.org). Adjoining this building, the Fuqua Orchid Center contains separate rooms simulating the tropics and high elevations in order to house rare orchids from around the world.

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

1 History
2 Chihuly in the Garden
3 Atlanta Botanical Garden Parking Deck Controversy
4 See also
5 External link

[edit] History

The Atlanta Botanical Garden was incorporated in 1976. In 1985, the Garden built its first permanent structure, the Gardenhouse. The Children's Garden was built in 1999. The Fuqua Conservatory opened in 1989 and the Fuqua Orchid Center was added in 2002.

On April 29, 2006, an exhibition of the sculpture of Niki de Saint Phalle opened to the public. These huge mosaic sculptures came to the Garden from France, Germany and California.

[edit] Chihuly in the Garden

In 2004, the Garden hosted an extremely successful exhibition of glass art by Dale Chihuly titled "Chihuly in the Garden". The exhibit was extended twice; first through the end of October and then finally until December 31, 2004. Over the eight-month run, an estimated 360,000 attendees visited the exhibit. The peak per-day rates of 7500 were double the previous single-day attendance record at the Garden.

[edit] Atlanta Botanical Garden Parking Deck Controversy

In May, 2004, the Piedmont Park Conservancy unveiled a proposal sponsored and funded by the Atlanta Botanical Garden to build a fee-based parking deck in the interior of Piedmont Park. Opponents, led by Friends of Piedmont Park, wanted the decision-making process to start over so that alternatives can be explored.

On November 21, 2005, the Parking Deck was approved by the Atlanta City Council and signed by Mayor Shirley Franklin with a planned ground breaking in 2007. However, on January 17, 2007, Friends of Piedmont Park and several citizens filed a suit in Fulton County Superior Court to halt construction of the parking deck and to ensure compliance with laws applicable to open records, competitive bidding, and use of public spaces and resources.