Botanical gardens announces $21.8M in gifts for master site plan

SARASOTA — Marie Selby Botanical Gardens announced that $21.8 million in gifts have been secured to fund its master site plan. 

According to a press release, the amount is more than half the $42.5 million needed to implement the first of the three-phase, multimillion-dollar plan. The goal for funding the overall 10-year master plan is $92 million, with $72 million to be directed toward capital costs and the rest to be directed toward endowment and operational needs.

The fundraising campaign for the plan will be led by Selby Gardens’ trustees, leadership donors and co-chairs Jean Weidner Goldstein, Cornelia Matson and Pauline Wamsler. 

The master plan includes increasing the botanical garden’s green space by 50%, protecting its scientific collections from future sea level rise and allowing for expanded educational outreach. When the plan is complete, Selby Gardens aims to have the only botanical garden complex in the world with a Net Positive energy rating, with buildings generating more energy than they consume, the release states.  

The first phase will include the new Jean Goldstein Welcome Center, adjacent to the Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center, a building that will house the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Herbarium and Laboratory and Nathalie McCulloch Research Library.

Another key element of phase one is the Sky Garden, a multi-story building that will include parking, retail space and a destination restaurant operated by donor Michael’s on East. The restaurant will use an adjacent edible garden and a 20,000-square-foot solar panel array. 

The other phases involve a new greenhouse complex, a learning pavilion and improved routes throughout the property.

Contingent on fundraising, zoning and permitting, Selby officials seek to break ground on the first phase in late 2019. 

The master site plan team includes landscape architecture studio OLIN, buildings architecture firm Overland Partners and civil engineers Kimley Horn. Willis Smith Construction is the construction manager, according to the release. 

"The cutting-edge, innovative green building design along with the improvements to the green space and 'living buildings' will allow Selby Gardens to become a world-leader in energy efficiencies in public space while also being a garden for all to enjoy," says President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki in the statement. 

Sarasota's Selby Gardens in Sarasota is dedicated to the study, display and conservation of epiphytic plants.