Here are the plans for Jacksonville Arboretum's $8 million children's garden

In the next three to five years, an $8 million children's garden is intended to be the first phase of the Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens' new master development plan to come to fruition.

To fund the garden's design, the Arlington arboretum's board of directors has received a $50,000 challenge grant from the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund and is seeking a matching $50,000 in donations from the public. The board wants the design to "strike a healthy balance between education and recreation," featuring the environmentally diverse plants and animals found on the grounds.

"One of the pillars of our new strategic plan is to deepen our educational impact on arboretum visitors of allages, not only to encourage them to experience the awe of nature itself but become an active participant inits appreciation and growth," board president and chairman Kevin Blalock said. "We arethrilled for this additional grant … so we can provide this new resource to the Jacksonville community."

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What is an arboretum?

"An arboretum is a place where trees and other plants are grown and studied." That's the definition on the organization's website, which also explains "the word 'arboretum' comes from the Latin word 'arbor,' meaning 'tree.'"

What is the history of Jacksonville's arboretum?

The 126-acre arboretum has seven volunteer-built trails through 13 different ecosystems, all on land that was once part of a strip-mining operation and later an illegal dumping site. In 2004 a group of citizens began discussions about cleaning up the property for use as a nonprofit arboretum and it opened four years later.

The arboretum gets about 130,000 visitors a year and has reached 15,000 students through school visits and educational programs. About 1,025 members, who pay from $40 to $750 a year for the privilege, support the mission, while volunteers have provided 2,228 hours of work to maintain the site.

The arboretum long relied on donations — visitors were asked to give $3 — and event sponsorships to generate income. And it was long run by volunteers.

But in 2018, the first director was hired and a few additional employees have joined since. And in 2022, a $3 admission fee was implemented to offset costs of improvements, ongoing maintenance and educational programming.

Despite the fee, membership grew 300% from 2021 to 2022, according to arboretum officials.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the growth we’re seeing," Blalock said. "It’s exciting to seethe word is out about this wonderful urban oasis."

What else is in the master plan?

The master plan includes a performing arts amphitheater, floral display garden, expanded parking and a visitors and event center. Those components will be clustered around 18 acres that surround the arboretum lake.

But the board decided the children's garden should come first "because the arboretum is so family focused" and already has activities and events for adults, Executive Director Dana Doody said.

The board set a three- to five-year timeline for design, planning and fundraising.

"It will take at least that long," she said, and construction will not get underway until "all the funds are in place."

The arboretum hired two landscape design firms — 3. Fromme Designs of Sanford and HDLA of Nashville, Tenn. — that have worked on botanical gardens in Atlanta, Tulsa, Okla., Shanghai and Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. The theme of the children's garden may be the "environmental diversity of plants and animals found on the grounds," according to the arboretum.

Planning workshops will be conducted for arboretum members, followed by a fundraising campaign.

"It will be really exciting to unveil this to the public," Doody said.

How can the public help?

Donate at jacksonvillearboretum.org/donatet. Also, the arboretum needs volunteers to help with trail maintenance, guest relations and special events; serve as nature and garden guides; and perform gardening tasks under staff horticulturists, among other things.

"We are confident our donors will meet this challenge as they have before," Doody said. "It will be an incredible help in the development of our Children’s Garden, a long-awaited project we can’t wait to get started on."

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109