ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Botanical Garden is preparing to break ground on a new, $92 million visitor center for the popular St. Louis attraction.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that garden officials announced Monday that construction will begin in January. The complex will be called the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center. Garden president Peter Wyse Jackson says the Taylor family donated “a lead gift” for the project, and the rest was privately funded.
The new facility is scheduled to open in 2022. It is designed to give guests a larger, more accessible and streamlined place to start and stay for their visit.
The current Ridgway Visitor Center was built in 1982 and meant to accommodate 250,000 visitors a year. Now, the garden welcomes nearly 1 million visitors annually.
