Memphis Botanic Garden launches $6M campaign for facility upgrades, increased outreach

Officials with the Memphis Botanic Garden announced Monday a new initiative that will upgrade gardens and structures within the 96-acre botanical oasis in East Memphis. 

Called Nourish GreenPrint: 2021, the three-year plan will split resources between two areas of focus: One will concentrate on less colorful, but crucial, elements of the gardens like upgrades to parking amenities and the visitor's center; the other will focus on expanding educational opportunities and increasing access to youth in Memphis. 

Alongside Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, who serves as an honorary co-chair for the effort, Executive Director Mike Allen said $2.55 million — nearly half of the initiative's $6 million dollar campaign goal — had already been secured. 

Opinion:Memphis Botanic Garden director Mike Allen plots future

"I am grateful to our board of directors and to the early financial supporters who have given us the confidence to move forward with this ambitious effort," Allen said.

Early supporters for the Nourish GreenPrint initiative include some regulars in Memphis' philanthropic sphere like AutoZone, the First Tennessee Foundation and International Paper.

An additional $250,000 gift from The Assisi Foundation of Memphis will be awarded once fundraising for the initiative hits the halfway mark — $3 million. 

Vance Lewis, the garden's board president, said that basic enhancements will come first.

"One of the first things we're going to do is parking, we serve so many people in the community at large events," Lewis said. "Our two lots don't meet, and that's one of the things we're going to focus on first."

After structural enhancements are complete, the focus will shift to enhancing educational amenities like the planned Urban Home Garden, which will demonstrate how to create small but functional gardens for apartment dwellers or homeowners with limited green space.

The second phase of investment will also focus on increasing access for youth in the Memphis area.

According to officials, the garden already hosts 40,000 school children in a year. With the Fund for Expanded Educational Opportunity, officials hope that number will rise.

In his remarks to the crowd gathered at the garden, Strickland emphasized the need for increased outreach to Memphis and Shelby County youth. 

"I know personally that there are children whose first experience in the woods is right here in the botanic gardens, despite the fact that they are 11, 12 years old," Strickland said. "When this campaign is complete, we'll be able to reach even more children to allow them to see the beauty of nature, to experience the joy of being outdoors, and learn hands-on about our ecosystem and environment."