Garden breaks ground for center Jan. 20

The Grand Hall, the largest building in new construction at Huntsville Botanical Garden, will seat 350 guests. CONTRIBUTED

HUNTSVILLE – The look and feel of Huntsville Botanical Garden is about to change, radically for the better.

On Jan. 20 at 2 p.m., a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at the garden for a new anchor building with 30,000 square feet.

“The iconic new facility will feature many new guest amenities and welcome visitors with warm Southern hospitality,” director of marketing Carol Casey said. “The building features a new portal to the garden, larger gift shop and cafe, three fantastic rental facilities, two catering kitchens, separate bride and groom’s rooms, along with supporting restrooms, storage and office space.”

The largest room, The Grand Hall, will seat 350 guests. The more casual Carriage House features doors that open to the garden along the east and west sides of the building and can seat more than 150 people.

“The gorgeous Glass Conservatory will entertain about 50 people,” Casey said. “Reservations for these halls for 2017 events begin March 1, 2016.”

Garden CEO Paula Steigerwald said the staff is “excited and proud of what this facility will do for the garden and the community. It will provide resources to the garden for continued growth and provide an even better place for our visitors, members, volunteers and staff to enjoy, celebrate, work and come together.”

Huntsville architects Matheny Goldmon + Interiors designed the building. Turner Construction has provided pre-construction services and continued to work with Matheny Goldmon through the design build process.

To-date, major donors for the construction are the City of Huntsville, Dorothy Davidson, Alpha Foundation, Linda J. Smith, Butch and Jerry Damson, Phylis and Bob Baron, John and Tine Purdy, Jurenko Family Foundation and Jan Smith.

Leading in corporate donations for the project are Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Dynetics, Crestwood Medical Center, Venturi, Redstone Federal Credit Union, Aegis, S3 and Cepeda System and Software Analysis Inc. Technology partners include Adtran and Digium.

To participate in the project, call the garden’s advancement office at 256-830-4447; naming opportunities are available. For more information, visit hsvbg.org.