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A post from John Clemens
As the leaves fall from the poplars and oaks in Hagley Park, from my office window I can now see the water of Victoria Lake glistening in the distance. Two things spring to mind. First, while the waters of Victoria Lake and the Botanic Gardens ponds are not quite sparklingly clear when viewed close-up, it is certainly good to have them filled once more. We are told it will be some time before the original wildlife returns to these newly clay-lined water bodies.
My second thought was that before too long the views from our offices in the Botanic Gardens operations centre and nursery area will change forever as we expect to embark on the carefully planned process of demolishing the old and constructing the new Botanic Gardens Centre (sometimes referred to as an Entry Pavilion).
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The New Building
As you might have heard, the Council resolved at its meeting of 11 April 2012 that we “should continue work on the Botanic Gardens Entry Pavilion project including tendering the construction contract to ensure the construction is completed in time (December 2013) to coincide with the Botanic Gardens’ 150 year anniversary.” This is grand news. All going well, the new building will take shape and look somewhat like the simulation shown here.
The building will be located on the site of the existing operations and nursery area, although aligned with the Christ’s College boundary rather than running along the bank of the Avon River. This will open up the river bank, with views from the large lawn outside the building across towards Victoria Lake and Hagley Park.
From October the Gardens extend their opening hours to 8.30pm and from November to 9.00pm so enjoy the longer evenings and take a stroll!
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