Myriad Gardens

[jbrown84]

Seems to me the donation would have been better served landscaping the severely neglected Red Andrews Park over by St. Anthony's at Shartel and 7th.

Random...

[krisb]

Did someone say a MG blog is in the works to help us keep up with the progress? Now that they have erected a concrete barrier around the park, it's getting more difficult to peek in on the dirt movement.

[FritterGirl]

Blog is still a work in progress. Hopefully will be up and running soon. (There's only one of me, sorry!)

In the interim, I've added a few photos to the City's new flickr account. You can see them HERE. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I tried to add detailed descriptions to the photos so people could get a sense of what is going on.

[metro]

Great pics FritterGirl, these really help add sense of scale and perspective to what's going on. Hope you don't mind me posting one of your pics here.

[lasomeday]

Wow, with the turf cut out as well it looks like a piece of heaven! How many of these trees are they moving a day?

[FritterGirl]

That I don't really know.

They have transplanted over 20 trees, which are being added to the collection of trees at the Will Rogers Gardens' arboretum.

Another twenty or so have been taken to Will Rogers Gardens for temporary placement, where they are set near one another on the ground, root balls in tact, and then covered with soil and mulch. They will be held there until transported back to the MBG.

Some of the larger trees they cannot transport very far, so they will be lifted with cranes and placed in temporary holding areas in other places in the Gardens.

I'll try to come up with some numbers for you all.

The tree folks were a bit delayed because of last week's rain, which held them at bay for a few days, since like everything else in town, the Gardens were a muddy slog.

What I find most interesting about the pictures (aside from the trees) is you can see the interior wall of the old concourse system with the painted blocks on it. Very 70s retro.

[Thunder]

Need a quick answer in about 30 minutes, please. Is the gift shop still open?

[FritterGirl]

Need a quick answer in about 30 minutes, please. Is the gift shop still open?

Hi Thunder,

No. The gift shop is not open. The entire outdoor grounds, as well as Crystal Bridge is under construction. Gift shop had to close.

[Thunder]

SUCKS!!! When will it reopen?

[FritterGirl]

SUCKS!!! When will it reopen?

Likely when the Gardens themselves re-open, in April, 2011.

[Thunder]

Likely when the Gardens themselves re-open, in April, 2011.

Only place to find kool outdoor gifts for my aunt's birthday. :-(

[Steve]

I was curious about the gift shop myself when I saw it in the budget cuts. So the plan is for it to return, right?

[Thunder]

I was curious about the gift shop myself when I saw it in the budget cuts. So the plan is for it to return, right?

Of course it will return. They make crazy profits on those things, so yeah, it will be back.

[Larry OKC]

Great pics FritterGirl, these really help add sense of scale and perspective to what's going on. Hope you don't mind me posting one of your pics here.

That is encouraging. Hope they continue this idea when they get to landscaping the MAPS 3 park, Boulevard and Project 180. I admit I am spoiled when it comes to these types of things as lived in the Disney World area for 10 years. When Disney does anything, they go all out on it. Landscaping with mature trees and plants that look like they have always been there.

As they said near the closing of the ULI presentation, the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago. The next best time is now

Especially if you can transplant mature trees that make it look like they were planted 30 years ago. This was one of my main faults with the Canal when it opened. I had believed the media hype and was expecting the San Antonio River Walk and at least the level of the Myriad Gardens. Talk about a shock. Went down on the opening July 4th weekend and what landscaping there was, was dead or dying (we found out later that the contractor had planted non-indigenous). The trees were saplings. Several years later it is finally starting to look like what I expected from opening day.

[Soonerus]

horrible tree damage in the Myriad Gardens....like a tornado passed through..

[FritterGirl]

I was curious about the gift shop myself when I saw it in the budget cuts. So the plan is for it to return, right?

At this time, there are plans for a return, but the question remains in what capacity. The steering committee is working with the same team consulting on restaurants to also discuss retail implications (the group specializes in retail/restaurant development for cultural attractions). Some of the questions being considered are types of merchandise made available, plus whether to have the city run the shop or work through an outside contractor.

They cleared out all of the merchandise with mark-down sales prior to and during Festival, and having the Gift Shop closed means there are inherent savings in paying to keep the space operational, inventory and/or personnel costs.

Of course it will return. They make crazy profits on those things, so yeah, it will be back.

Thunder, while it is certainly hopeful that any new shop concept would make money, there are no guarantees in retail - EVER.

[betts]

Only place to find kool outdoor gifts for my aunt's birthday. :-(

Wilshire Garden Market on Wilshire just east of May is a great place for garden-inspired gifts.

[CaseyCornett]

You have to register into your Facebook account and I'm not sure if his profile is set to "private" but Peter Dolese (Arts Council OKC) just posted 95 current photos of the Myriad Gardens makeover Login | Facebook

[Pete]

Here are a few:

[jbrown84]

I'm wondering if they're just going to bury that wall. It has been demo'ed to that state for several weeks now.

[FritterGirl]

I'm wondering if they're just going to bury that wall. It has been demo'ed to that state for several weeks now.

They are working on in-filling what was the north lake and blossom hill area. The wall will be largely covered, but the area will be regraded with more gently sloping hills (ADA accessible) and not steep drop-offs.

[jbrown84]

Yeah I knew that. What I meant was that it appears (and you have confirmed) that the concrete wall will be buried as opposed to ripped out.

[Dustin]

[QUOTE=Pete Brzycki;337791]Here are a few:




Yes! So glad to see they have started on this!

[TAlan CB]

I heard they were going to replace the exolite plastic surface with clear glass. Though understandable, it will be a shame. The exolite was translucent not transparent, so one could only make out vague shapes of what was inside, so you wanted to go in and see the detail. But, what was better was that when you were inside the skin "glowed" white so that it transmitted or lazed light down to areas that would not have gotten it otherwise. Better yet, it transported you to a different world where you could not see the outside - and were instead immersed in a tropical setting with no reference to what was outside. I have worked in Conservatories (including the CB) both where you could and could not see the outside. It is always better when you can't. Now to experience this you will have to travel south to the Dallas World Aquarium. Daryl, the owner, got many of his ideas from the CB - he visited all the time before he opened the Conservatory at the DWA. I would hope they would glaze the glass, but I suspect they wont. The exolite was brittle - thus its downfall, but it was a great insulator. I can remember snow falls where it was 70 degrees inside and the snow still built up on the outside on top. I know they are using new technologies, I would be curious to know the details. Does anyone know the details of glass they are going to use?

[okclee]

You have to register into your Facebook account and I'm not sure if his profile is set to "private" but Peter Dolese (Arts Council OKC) just posted 95 current photos of the Myriad Gardens makeover Login | Facebook

Is Peter Dolese of the Dolese concrete company?