Marie Selby Botanical Gardens | Downtown Expansion Project
The well-known "living museum" of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is a 15-acre conservation and research center located here in Sarasota, Florida. After almost 50 years, they are now expanding and adding a downtown campus. It will be the nation's first Net Positive Botanical Garden Community.
Their Downtown Expansion Project plans began in 2018. Earlier this year Sarasota City Commission finally approved their plans to move forward with construction. Phase One of their plans already yielded 90 percent of the $42 million needed. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity provided $1.1 million, with two grants, while the rest was raised by private donors.
The project plans for three phases over the next couple of years and will total $92 million. This project aims to provide 3,000 jobs and will establish a training program for local workers in the area.
Phase One
The largest of the three phases and will include building the Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF), which will provide parking, gift shops, and restaurants that will utilize the vegetables grown right in their gardens. Utilizing solar energy, the eco-friendly site will include one acre of solar-powered structures that will yield 105% of the power needed for their entire site, reducing their carbon footprint. Their plans for a storm water filtration system will collect and cleanse stormwater onsite, protecting Sarasota Bay's ecosystem.
In addition, phase one will construct the Plant Research Center that will be home to the herbarium and laboratory, and a research library that will preserve a collection of rare books and botanical illustrations, dating back to the 1700s. These new structures will be built away from flood zones, and they plan on building up the surrounding mangroves that border the area.
“The really exciting part is the LEAF will house a 50,000-square-foot solar array that will make us the world’s first net-positive botanical garden,” said president and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki.
Phase Two & Three
The next two phases plan on restoring the Payne Mansion that is known for housing the Museum of Botany and the Arts. They will construct a hurricane-resistant glass greenhouse, full of botanicals and bromeliads, dedicated areas for additional gardens and water displays, and a unification of paths and sea walls that encompass the area.
Marie Selby Botanical Garden’s downtown campus will be a hub for research, conservation, eco-friendly attractions, and prove to be an international leader in solar energy.
James Brown
941.408.3332
James.a.brown@comcast.net