Averill Foundation Funds Garvan Gardens Master Plan Review

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A gift from the Averill Foundation has funded a master plan study for Garvan Woodland Gardens, the University of Arkansas’ botanical garden. (Left to right) Bob Bledsoe, executive director of Garvan Woodland Gardens; Larry and Sue Averill, and Bob Byers, director of Garvan Woodland Gardens.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Trustees of the Richard W. Averill Foundation recently awarded $250,000 to Garvan Woodland Gardens, the School of Architecture’s botanical garden in Hot Springs, to fund a strategic planning study that will evaluate future goals for the 210-acre site.

Known as the Averill Master Plan for Garvan Woodland Gardens: Refining Old and Setting New Goals, the study will provide the essential tools needed for sustainable growth and development of Garvan Gardens.

Garvan Gardens’ leaders have identified sustainability, public service and education as key concerns in the master planning process.

“We need to define policies and procedures that will sustain the gardens for current and future generations,” said Fran Beatty, head of the department of landscape architecture. “We want to reaffirm Verna Garvan’s mission to preserve these beautiful woodlands while continuing to serve the public. We also want to provide research and educational opportunities for our faculty, students and the general public.” 

Nuts and bolts operations need a tune up, as well.

“The biggest challenge we face is overcoming operational obstacles that have developed out of the gardens’ overall success,” said Bob Byers, garden director. “We’re trying to accommodate the growing number of people who visit the gardens.” Since opening in 2002, the gardens’ admissions have increased an average of 12-15 percent each year.

Larry Averill, one of three executors of the charitable foundation and a long-time Garvan Woodland Gardens volunteer, concurs on the need to revisit the master plan.

“The original master plan is still viable,” he said, “but the gardens’ situation is significantly different than when the plan was developed 10 years ago. There needs to be a fresh look at everything.”

A retired administrator and educator who taught law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for 35 years, Averill is happy to divulge that the study will include a comprehensive look at Garvan Gardens’ educational facilities.

“One of the major functions of the gardens needs to be education,” he asserts. His dream for the woodland attraction is an indoor facility dedicated entirely to educational events.

Averill, along with his wife Sue and his sister, Ruth McKay of Virginia, made the decision to donate funds from his late brother’s foundation because of a longstanding association with the woodland peninsula, a love for plants and gardening, and a desire to positively impact the community and state. 

“I have a lot of care for the gardens,” he said. “I want to see it succeed and improve.”

MESA Design, an award-winning landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm based in Dallas, was chosen from nearly a dozen highly qualified applicants to implement the master plan review. Recognized for their design and horticultural expertise in realizing the full potential of new and existing gardens, the planning consultants will adhere to a three-phase process for the assessment:

• Phase 1 – analysis, visioning, and conceptual planning
• Phase 2 – master planning and economic studies
• Phase 3 – conceptual design for a new welcome center and educational building, as well as production of the final master plan document

“The proposed process is ambitious,” admits Byers, “but it will serve to prepare the gardens even better for impending needs, as well as identify the best opportunities for future success. We anticipate the results will not only improve services to the general public, but enhance many other programs and facilities that fulfill the goals and objectives of the gardens and the mission of the University of Arkansas.”

To date, preliminary studies of Garvan Gardens’ retail and food services have been completed, along with a survey of existing structures.