ADA Work at Foster Botanical Garden

An on-going project designed to improve accessibility throughout Foster Botanical Garden will require closure of this storied urban location from Feb. 13 until May 2023.

The project aims to improve the accessibility at the Foster’s entrance, bathrooms, community garden, and botanical pathways. This includes:

• Reconstructing the main garden entrance with new pavement, handrails, ramps, and a low wall seating area

• Refurbishing existing ADA-accessible parking stalls and signage

• Adding new accessible plots to the community garden

• Renovating the inside of the comfort stations (bathroom buildings)

• Installing a replacement drinking fountain

• Upgrading the garden’s various pathways

Currently, these garden pathways consist of various materials at various grades. This project will reconstruct them to be concrete, thereby making them more accessible and improving visitor circulation throughout the botanical garden. As a result of these extensive, garden-wide improvements, the 11-week closure of botanical garden is necessary.

Though the botanical garden is scheduled to be closed from Feb. 13 until May, gardener access to their community garden plots is not anticipated to be restricted.

The project is part of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), a federally-funded initiative to provide annual grants principally for the improvement of communities in low to moderate income areas. CDBG funds account for the majority of the $1.266 million construction contract, awarded to Site Engineering, Inc.

A separate project within Foster is slated for later this summer. This work includes demolition of the old annex building, which will be localized and not require closure of the garden.

The 14-acre Foster Botanical Garden is the oldest of the city’s five botanical gardens. Some of the garden’s magnificent trees were planted by Dr. William Hillebrand in the 1850’s. It is home to hundreds of species of tropical plants, trees and flowers. Pictured here is a blossom from the Powderpuff tree located in the garden's main terrace.

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