Fort Worth Botanic Garden patrons must help it bloom

The metal and glass superstructure of the Conservatory at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden is laced with stress fractures and some of its glass panels have fallen out. A 50-year-old greenhouse needs to be replaced. The park’s roads are crumbling and require rebuilding.

To put it bluntly, the landmark garden, the oldest of its kind in Texas, needs some tending.

Recognizing its value, the city of Fort Worth has always generously supported the garden, providing it with more than 50 percent of its roughly $5 million budget. But with streets to repair and community centers, libraries and firehouses to build, the city simply can’t do this alone.

So we think it is a good idea for the 110-acre park to start charging an admission fee as one way to help raise the $15 million a consultant says is so desperately needed to reestablish it, with its 22 specialized gardens, as the first class destination it deserves to be.

It’s no secret the garden has problems.

In 2016, the Conservatory was closed three times when a leaking irrigation system flooded the facility. Equipment malfunctions caused the temperature to drop so low inside that the plants it was built to protect were threatened. Now it is closed because of structural issues.

The same year a sinkhole opened up behind the stage where the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra performs its popular Concerts in the Gardens after a 30-inch sewer line collapsed. Patrons were largely unaware it happened, but it was hard to put a bloom on that rose.

Despite all that, officials said visitors still flock to the garden.The park had about 334,000 visitors last year, with two-thirds of them coming from out of town. Even in its diminished state, the garden still generates about a $10 million for the local economy.

So, to make sure the garden stays vital, the City Council kicked off an effort to save it.

Within the last year the garden has undergone a reorganization and the council has rearranged how it financially supports the facility. The City Council also appointed a task force that is looking at how to act on a $15 million strategic plan for maintaining and improving the park.

To help pay for it, the task force is looking at a general admission fee of $12 for adults, $9 for seniors and $8 for children. Currently, there is only a charge for the Japanese Garden and Conservatory, when it’s open. The fee could help bring in $3.7 million a year.

Charging an entrance fee is not uncommon. In botanical parks in Dallas and San Antonio admissions account for 27 percent to 29 percent of their budgets. In Fort Worth, the limited admission it now collects covers just 14 percent of costs.

While the task force will hold public meetings before it makes a formal recommendation to the council, we hope the idea of charging fees takes root as long as the city continues to includes discount days and single-use free pass as a way to guarantee access to everyone. We also like the suggestion that a portion of the garden would remain free.

The Botanic Garden has occupied a special place in Fort Worth since it opened in 1934. Patrons need to do their part to help it blossom.

This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Fort Worth Botanic Garden patrons must help it bloom."