Pittsburgh Botanical Garden gets new welcome center.
Experiencing the balm of nature while learning about trees and plants native to Western Pennsylvania will be easier when the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden opens its new welcome center in Oakdale to the public at noon on Thursday.
Admission will be by timed ticketing only, so advance reservations are required. The 60-acre garden offers walking trails through woodlands, gardens blooming with native plants, a lotus pond and a sensory garden featuring herbs and vegetables. A gazebo surrounded by a large flower garden is a popular spot for outdoor weddings.
Gold and white boulders found on the property adorn the path that leads to the new welcome center, which is accessed by a new driveway and flanked by a large parking lot.
The $10.5 million project was financed with $3.25 million in public tax money; the rest came from private donations, said Beth Exton, director of development.
Made of local stone and real cedar, the one-story welcome center is nestled into the landscape. Inside are walls of floor-toceiling windows, two large classrooms, a Canopy Cafe with a view of towering Norway spruce trees and an outdoor terrace where people can dine al fresco. The cafe will serve soup, salads and sandwiches provided by Hazelnut Catering. The floors have radiant heat, but they are concrete, so wear your most comfortable walking shoes.
Overland Partners, an architectural and urban design firm based in San Antonio, collaborated with FortyEighty Architecture of Pittsburgh on the new building’s design. Pashek + MTR, a Pittsburgh landscape architecture firm, designed the outdoor spaces surrounding the welcome center.
Civil and Environmental of Pittsburgh planned the parking lot or “auto garden.” Underneath the lot is a detention tank that captures storm water runoff, a way to prevent flooding. Water from the tank seeps gradually into the property.
From Pinkerton Run Road, visitors enter the new driveway, pass a barn and park. Inside the welcome center, five honey-colored lamps made by Akron Glassworks illuminate the front desk.
The first large space visitors see is the Zappala Woodland Room. Illuminated by a long bank of floor to ceiling windows, the room offers comfortable sofas, chairs and a reading nook. It was funded by the Richard A. Zappala Family Foundation.
Even in the women’s restroom, a floorto-ceiling window allows visitors with a view of nature while answering its call.
Next to the front desk, Forage and Find gift shop sells plants and pots, garden tools, bistro tables and honey from the botanic garden’s apiary, which was established in 2015.
Off a hallway are the Peirce Education Rooms and Courtyard Garden. The classrooms overlook a spacious, outdoor courtyard framed by high walls made of more gold and white boulders. Water trickling through the boulders will nourish green plants growing out of rock ledges. Large clay pots filled with flowers will dot the courtyard.
Funded by the Peirce Family Foundation, the education rooms are flexible because they can be one large space or two smaller spaces. When divided, each room is equipped with two large sinks and a wall that instructors can draw on, then erase.
Keith Kaiser, executive director of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, said the building has a ventilation system that removes carbon dioxide and viruses from air inside. The system was made by enVerid, a Massachusetts company.
A variety of classes will be offered, include cooking and gardening, which tie in with the vegetable and herb garden. Along with yoga and Tai Chi instruction, there will be educational programs connected to rotating art exhibitions.
Atticus Adams, who was named artist of
51
the year at the Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media in 2018, will exhibit his work starting April 1. Gary Bukovnik, a nationally known watercolor artist who grew up in Cleveland and lives in San Francisco, will exhibit his work staring July 15.
The garden’s old welcome center, a rustic 1870s barn near the main entrance, will become staff offices and additional rental space for large private parties. Topped by a rooster, the charming barn is called the Davidson Events Center.
The number of people visiting the garden is increasing, Exton said. Between October and December 2019, daily admissions were 1,485 and evening visits for an event called Moonlight and Cocoa were 617 for a total of 2,102.
For that same period in 2020, the number of visitors more than doubled. Daily admissions were tallied at 3,775, while Moonlight and Cocoa visitors totaled 1,084, for a total of 4,859.
Efforts to create the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden began in 1988. In 1998, the organization’s leaders found a 432-acre site in Settlers Cabin County Park.
The next milestone was closing a long abandoned coal mine on the property. In 2003, Allegheny County acquired another 20 acres. The nonprofit that runs the 60-acre garden
McDonald
leases the 452-acre property for $1 a year; the botanic garden stretches over 60 acres.
Three passive filtration systems on the property neutralize 55 million gallons of acid mine drainage each year. To pay for those filtration systems, the garden received $1.4 million in federal funds from the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program, Kaiser said.
Admission is $12 for adults, $7 for visitors
ages 3 to 17. Children 3 and under are free. For more information, visit pittsburghbotanicgarden.org. To reserve advance tickets by telephone, call 412-444-4464