
{"id":4887,"date":"2009-02-19T10:23:57","date_gmt":"2009-02-19T18:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=4887"},"modified":"2009-02-19T10:23:57","modified_gmt":"2009-02-19T18:23:57","slug":"garden-entering-a-new-phase-in-a-long-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/02\/19\/garden-entering-a-new-phase-in-a-long-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Garden entering a new phase in a long history"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Valarie Schwartz<\/p>\n<p>The struggles to begin the N.C. Botanical Garden were as troublesome for C. Ritchie Bell as the exotic invasives that now strangle many Southern gardens, but many of the details have burrowed as deeply as kudzu roots. Still, Bell was able to provide an oral history on Feb. 1 in the garden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Totten Center for members of the N.C. Native Plant Society.<\/p>\n<p> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had the garden as an idea,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell said as he addressed several dozen in attendance. Bell was hired into the botany department in 1951 and served as the garden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s founding director until his retirement in 1986. He said that Dr. W.C. Coker, who in 1903 became the first professor of botany at UNC, generated the idea. <\/p>\n<p>Land south of the campus was dedicated for development of a botanical garden in 1952, and though \u00e2\u20ac\u0153money was hard to come by,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell said, the trustees passed a resolution to start a garden. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>When it came to legislation, Bell had a hard time cutting through the red tape. In 1966, he presented a plan to Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson asking for $70-80,000, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the university, as always, was tight for money,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell explained. <\/p>\n<p>His funding request was turned down \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but he and the future garden had a friend in William Lanier Hunt, who had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a friend in the state Legislature,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the bottom line, which Bell spelled out in detail, is that the university\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget for that year passed because money for the garden was included in it. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how we lucked out and got the botanical garden started \u00e2\u20ac\u201d political power and one telephone call,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell said before he thanked everyone in attendance for supporting the garden and sat down.<\/p>\n<p>But the history lesson continued as Ken Moore, the first employee of the garden, hired in 1971, shared his early memories of the garden before Bell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s successor, Peter White, led everyone on a tour of the Education Center projected for completion in June. <\/p>\n<p>White\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enthusiasm for the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum building in the UNC system spread through the group even after traversing a muddy trench to stand in chilly breezeways that one of these days will sport rocking chairs and tea trolleys along with a view of the sycamore-studded nature trail. <\/p>\n<p>The $12-million project far exceeds imaginings held by Coker or Bell, but like them White and the current staff continue the search for dream-supporting money. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is a privately fund-raised building,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d White said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are no public dollars in this building. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve raised $10 million and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for the last $2 million.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nNaming opportunities that help create a legacy are one of the ways money is raised and, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have some really neat spaces to inspire donors,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d White said. <\/p>\n<p>The 29,696-square-foot Education Center includes three buildings connected by breezeways \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the classroom building, public service building and (the only named building thus far) Reeves Auditorium, where one can visualize many enchanting gatherings in coming years. Tables and cabinets from the renovation of the chancellor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house will be brought in but more money is required for furniture and landscaping, which will take years to properly cultivate \u00e2\u20ac\u201d with native plants of course. <\/p>\n<p>Economically speaking, the path is thorny.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our major gifts are down,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Charlotte Jones-Roe, associate director for development. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The number of large gifts dropped precipitously a year ago. The world has changed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Even if your gift won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t support the naming of a room, a green elevator or a cistern, any measure of giving will help toward realizing this goal. And who knows \u00e2\u20ac\u201d maybe you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make it into the next chapter of history!<br \/>\nLearn more at <a href=\"http:\/\/ncbg.unc.edu\">ncbg.unc.edu<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Contact Valarie Schwartz at valariekays at mac dot com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Valarie Schwartz The struggles to begin the N.C. Botanical Garden were as troublesome for C. Ritchie Bell as the exotic invasives that now strangle many Southern gardens, but many of the details have burrowed as deeply as kudzu roots. Still, Bell was able to provide an oral history on Feb. 1 in the garden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-recently"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4888,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4887\/revisions\/4888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}