The world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis will start construction in January on a new $92 million visitor center.
The complex will replace the current center and give guests a larger, more accessible and streamlined place to start and stay for their visit.
The Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center is scheduled to open in spring 2022.
The Taylor (Enterprise Rent-A-Car) family donated “a lead gift” for the project, and the rest was privately funded.
The current Ridgway Visitor Center was built in 1982, meant to accommodate 250,000 visitors a year. Now, the garden welcomes nearly 1-million visitors annually.
The new building was designed by architect Ayers Saint Gross and landscape architect Michael Vergason. Alberici is managing construction. The entire project will be LEED-certified.
Visitors will first see new gardens in front of the building as well as wide pathways and more drop-off areas.
The center will include a lobby with a soaring, 50-foot ceiling that will serve as a beacon of sorts and be visible from Interstate 44.
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