| Oregon Garden | |
|---|---|
Entry to the Conifer Garden within Oregon Garden |
|
| Type | non-profit, public |
| Location | 879 West Main Street Silverton, Oregon, United States |
| Area | 80 acres (32 ha) |
| Created | April 17, 1999 |
| Operated by | Moonstone Garden Management Incorporated.[1] |
| Visitors | 40,000 (2005)[1] |
| Status | open |
Oregon Garden is an 80-acre (32 ha) botanical garden and tourist attraction in Silverton, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1999, the garden includes a variety of plant species and habitats and the only Frank Lloyd Wright home in Oregon. The garden is owned by the non-profit Oregon Garden Foundation, with the facility open every day. Additionally, it hosts community events and four to eight annual concerts[2] while providing educational outreach programs and award-winning environmental impacts.[3]
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A public showcase garden had been conceived since at least the 1940s.[4] Work towards the realization of the concept began in earnest around 1990, with land dedicated in 1995. A partnership between the Oregon Association of Nurserymen and the city of Silverton created the garden, with other support coming from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, The American Conifer Society, and the Oregon timber industry.[3] In April 1996, a master plan was created for the garden which includes ultimately developing all 240 acres (0.97 km2) of the site.[1][2] The groundbreaking ceremony occurred June 27, 1997 and featured high-ranking Oregon politicians.[5] The garden opened to the public during a dedication on April 17, 1999. Attendance at the garden totaled 250,000 visitors the first year.[1] Subsequent ceremonies dedicated additional features such as Gordon House on March 2, 2002, and the Rediscovery Forest and Natural Resources Center on June 7, 2002.[6]
In 2002, the water garden won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for environmental friendliness.[3]
| year | attendance | notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 238,000 | begins charging admission[4] |
| 2002 | 181,000 | [2] |
| 2003 | 100,000–158,000 | [7] |
| 2004 | 130,000 | [8] |
| 2005 | 40,000 | [1] |
The Oregon Garden struggles to survive financially, and has since inception.[9] Proceeds from admissions have been below management expectations. Funds from the Oregon Lottery, City of Silverton, and Marion County have helped keep it functioning.[1][10] The early years saw a relatively ambitious series of garden expansion. Since 2003, the addition of new features has slowed substantially. Attendance continues to decline, but compared favorably until 2003 with other Oregon gardens such as the Portland Classical Chinese Garden and the Portland Japanese Garden with 153,748 and 165,504 (respectively) visitors in 2002.
In 2005, Marion County issued $5 million in bonds to support the attraction.[1] In 2005, the Oregon Garden Foundation placed the garden in receivership as attendance had declined to 40,000 people that year with a delinquent debt of $8 million.[1] For 2006, the Garden lost $1.1 million with a revenue of less than $275,000.[11] The garden nearly closed due to its financial obligations.[12]
To ensure financial solvency, a deal was struck with Moonstone Garden Management Incorporated in 2006 in which the company would take over operations of the garden, with the Oregon Garden Foundation retaining ownership.[1] Moonstone purchased 11.1 acres (4.5 ha) from the City of Silverton[13] to build a 103-room resort hotel on undeveloped land adjacent to the garden's water feature.[14] The deal—set to last as long as 75 years—has Moonstone progressively repaying the $5 million bond from garden and resort revenue.[15] The 11-acre (4 ha) resort opened September 1, 2008.[16]
Plans to develop adjacent land to expand the Oregon Garden appear to be abandoned with a proposal to develop the 80-acre (32 ha) property southwest of the site into an urban park called Pettit Natural Area Demonstration Urban Natural Area.[17]
As of 2005, the Oregon Garden includes more than twenty specialty gardens and features such as the Bosque, Children's Garden, Conifer Garden (one of the largest collections of dwarf and miniature conifers in the United States), Honor Garden, Hughes Water Garden, Jackson & Perkins Rose Garden, Lewis & Clark Garden, Northwest Garden, Pet Friendly Garden, and Sensory Garden. The water garden is a maze-like area with numerous paths and bridges.[3] A 25-acre (100,000 m2) native Oregon white oak grove includes the 400-year-old, 100-foot (30 m) Signature Oak, which is one of Oregon's Heritage Trees.[18][19] The garden holds an annual festival each autumn.[20] Also on the grounds is the Teufel Amphitheater which hosts concerts and other events; Sam Bush played in the Amphitheater in 2006.[21]
Gordon House, the only house Frank Lloyd Wright designed in Oregon, is now on the grounds of Oregon Garden. The house, designed in 1957, is one of Wright's Usonian houses, and the only Wright house open to the public in the Pacific Northwest. Completed in 1964, the home was moved from Wilsonville, Oregon, to the garden in 2001.[22]
On each Earth Day since 1999, the Garden hosts a celebration which attracts environmental supporters and organizations with demonstrations, exhibitions, and workshops. Garden admission is free for this event.[23]
Using treated wastewater from the city, the garden is one of only a few installations in the United States that reuses wastewater for a water feature.[24] Even in the summer months, the garden does not draw on drinking water supplies, instead relying entirely on wastewater treatment plant effluent, which additionally irrigates 240 acres (0.97 km2) of farmland. Until recently, such use was prohibited by state law, but the law was revised partly due to this water reclamation project. The garden also provides wetland mitigation for a nearby industrial park to provide waterfowl and amphibian habitat, and offloads Silver Creek from water it would not naturally carry during low-flow months in the summer to address an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality requirement. The wastewater receives final treatment on about 16 acres (65,000 m2) of the Oregon Garden where a series of 25 ponds perform three final filtering functions. The end result is extremely high quality treated water.[25]