| Heritage Renovation Initiative |
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 For the first time since opening in 1990, Georgia Southern Botanical Garden is undergoing a renovation that will provide it with a new pavilion, heritage area landscaping, and critical repairs to Bland Cottage Visitor Center. The Heritage Renovation Initiative also seeks funding for the renovation and will build an endowment that will help secure the Garden’s future. "We are so excited about the plans," said Jack Orman, president of the Garden’s Board of Advisors. "In addition to being the first building construction at the Garden, this is also our first major fund raiser in our eighteen year history," he said. The initiative seeks $975,000 for the renovation and endowment. "The pavilion, new landscaping, and Bland Cottage repairs will work together to enhance the visitor’s experience," Orman said. More importantly, he said, the plan calls for an endowment. "The Garden is a unique botanical, historical, and educational center and we need to establish its financial security," Orman said. "We can’t let anything happen to this jewel." The pavilion will also enable the Garden to generate a continuing stream of rental revenue for operations. Respecting the Past Preserving the sense of place defined by the Bland farmstead was a key element in designing the renovation. The farmstead and the rich sense of history it creates is at the core of the Garden’s mission: to connect people tothe natural and cultural heritage of the region. Both the new pavilion and heritage landscaping respect and build on historical use of the area while taking into account current and future use of the space. The Heritage Pavilion & Event Facility, which replaces the Dairy Barn, is reminiscent of a barn in exterior design. It features a compound roof with two slopes. The low sloped flanks of the roof provide a deep overhang to protect the interior from rain, while the steep center slope provides a high ceiling and aids in natural ventilation. Six timber trusses supported by posts form the main structure. The farmyard entrance to the building, with sliding barn doors, is enclosed and houses restrooms and a multipurpose room/catering kitchen. The landscaping, conceived by Matt Baker, a land planner and landscape architect, honors the historic flow of farm life by using established paths as axes for focal points and by creating paths to the pavilion for processions for weddings and other formal events. The space between the Weather Vane Barn and the new pavilion forms a courtyard small enough to be intimate but large enough to accommodate a gathering for a reception or event. Plantings and seating areas give visual cues to visitors entering the farmyard from other parts of the Garden. Permeable material will be used for paths and terraces to collect rainwater through an underground cistern system. That water will be directed to irrigation. Baker’s design also includes a rain garden on the northeast side of the Weather Vane Barn and a small bridge over the swale it creates. The Board’s Facilities and Gardens Committee, chaired by Jan Clark, worked closely with Baker on the plan. Work on Bland Cottage, in Phase Two of the renovation, includes repairing structural damage with a new foundation, painting, updating plumbing and electricity, and refurbishing the interior. Securing the Future A key component of the Heritage Renovation Initiative is building an endowment -- a source for funding day-to-day Garden operations, including maintaining improvements made through the renovation initiative. "Proper funding is critical to the Garden’s future," Orman said. "The university provides some support but our future is in our hands."
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