AmeriFlora was our ‘ Seeds of Change’

’92 exhibition marked city’s emergence

Today marks the 25th anniversary of AmeriFlora ’92, an event that might best be described as a successful failure.

The international flower show, which celebrated the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World, opened on the morning of April 20, 1992, with high hopes: This was Columbus’ coming-out party.

A city that had long lingered in the shadow of its broad-shouldered urban sibling to the north and its graceful cousin to the south had rapidly grown to become Ohio’s largest metropolis. But we still had our small-town ways. We were gangly in our adolescence. This lack of sophistication showed during AmeriFlora.

The exposition was beset with bureaucratic obstacles from the start. The U.S. Agriculture Department wouldn’t allow in foreign-grown plants for outdoor displays. International gardens featured geraniums and snapdragons.

It was plagued by controversy. Rather than invest millions to rehabilitate an existing city wasteland — for instance, the old penitentiary site now the Arena District, AmeriFlora took over Franklin Park. City parks director Jim Barney had seized upon the exposition to get infrastructure for a run-down jewel of a park with an aging Victorian conservatory.

But the park was in the heart of a traditional black neighborhood. Fencing off the neighborhood from “its” park and making residents pay to enter was greeted as an appropriation; others saw a plot for gentrification. Arguments followed over job set-asides.

Then came the rain, in gales, dampening attendance. Nearly 6 inches fell on a single day that July. Who’d have guessed summer 1992 would be soggy after years of drought?

By the time the $95 million event closed on Oct. 12, it was battered by circumstances and mired in debt. Native Americans were in no mood to celebrate the arrival of the conquistador. Black leaders viewed the Santa Maria replica, moored on the city’s riverfront for the celebration, as a slave ship. And horticulture critics slammed the festival atmosphere.

And still, somehow, it was wonderful. Families marveled at the beautifully restored and expanded Conservatory, a remaining legacy. They savored the international restaurants and learned from the Smithsonian’s traveling Seeds of Change exhibit, which traced the impact of exchanges of crops, disease and the horse between the Old and New Worlds.

For central Ohioans, the exposition was Epcot Center on the banks of Alum Creek.

But there was truth in the painful criticism. Columbus learned, and grew. That is the real legacy of AmeriFlora; it is a gift from all those city benefactors and corporate sponsors who organized and donated millions for the event, including the late John F. Wolfe, The Dispatch’s former publisher.

AmeriFlora was a pivotal moment for Columbus. Entertainer Bob Hope and President George H.W. Bush attended the opening ceremonies. Busloads of tourists discovered Columbus, some 150 coaches a day, making AmeriFlora the American Bus Association’s No. 1 tourist destination of the year.

People came, and they loved us. Columbus emerged onto a national platform.

City leaders drew hard lessons from AmeriFlora about planning. They had forged a team that would work together to establish the Columbus Sports Commission, develop the Arena District and lure professional sports teams, re-imagine a sagging Downtown and grow an economy with a national reputation for technology and the arts.

Somehow, in an event that celebrated a man who got lost and didn’t know where he was or where he had been, Columbus the city found itself.

To see a slideshow of AmeriFlora ’92, go to www. dispatch.com/photos.