Executive Summary 2011 Master Plan
Our Mission The mission of Bok Tower Gardens is to share Edward Bok’s gift of a beautiful and serene garden with music, architecture and nature, so that all who visit will be inspired by his vision: “Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.”
Our Vision The vision of Bok Tower Gardens is to offer visitors a unique experience in a world-class garden where one can find beauty, peace and inspiration.
Gardens are dynamic and ever-changing. In the short term, the seasons with their cyclic nature are predictable and carry a certain reoccurring expectation; the camellia bloom peaks and fades to return again each year. But in the long term, change is linear; trees grow ever bigger casting more shade, shrubs get overgrown and decline.
This change can be subtle and hard to predict as the garden evolves over time. A garden needs replanting and rethinking as it evolves. For a public garden long term change not only occurs in the landscape, but also in the programming and how visitors interact and interpret the garden. Every so often it is important in a public garden such as ours to step back and circle around to review where we started, evaluate where we are now and decide where we want to go. In this way the garden is kept fresh and relevant. Besides the physical nature of a garden, it is important to financially sustain a garden’s operation. We therefore undertook a master planning process in the spring of 2011 to address how best we can move forward to maintain a vibrant garden while ensuring long-term financial sustainability. The 2011 Master Plan is an outgrowth of the Long Range Fundamental Plan adopted by the Bok Tower Gardens board of directors in the fall of 2010. This plan is the physical representation of the vision we have for the Gardens over the next 20 to 25 years. The plan addresses issues of visitor accessibility, circulation, interpretation and wayfinding. The plan also outlines ideas for increasing attendance by broadening our visitor base, revitalizing core areas of the historic garden and the Tower, and positioning Bok Tower Gardens as a world-class garden. The ultimate goal of this plan is to maintain Edward Bok’s legacy of the Gardens as a gift to the American public. The 2011 Master Plan will not be accomplished all at once. However, as with any long journey it is essential to have a good map. Please join us as we begin to realize our vision of a world-class garden.
William Burns, Chairman of the Board Bok Tower Gardens
David Price, President Bok Tower Gardens
The 2011 Master Plan builds on the existing strengths of Bok Tower Gardens including its heritage, landscape beauty, ecosystems, programs and existing facilities, while setting forth a framework and vision for expanding the Gardens’ relevance, broadening visitor appeal and ensuring fiscal sustainability. This Plan reflects our commitment to the many aspects of long-term sustainability – social, environmental and economic. Every element of the Plan allows us to fulfill our key mission and to attract new audiences while better serving long-time visitors. The Plan addresses potential areas for enhanced horticultural impact, provides a blueprint for new spaces and facilities that generate income to assist with operating costs and upkeep, and re-envisions garden spaces for indoor and outdoor events and programming.
Visit boktowergardens.org for a full copy of the 2011 Master Plan.
View of the new Florida Garden and Children’s Garden north of Visitor Center.
Our Vision
Goals for the 2011 Master Plant Projects: •
Revitalize the Gardens’ Historic Core by restoring the Tower and the historic gardens bringing careful and appropriate enhancements and renovations to further enrich and better sustain its heritage landscape.
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Tell the Gardens’ Story by expanding the site’s offerings with exciting new garden and exhibit spaces that more fully convey the Gardens’ message.
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Steward the Gardens’ Future by engaging new audiences, including children and families, with new gardens, facilities and programs to inspire the next generations of visitors.
A unifying feature of the 2011 Master Plan is a well thought-out Circulation and Orientation System to assist visitors in finding their way through the gardens. The Plan organizes visitor circulation into a series of nested and interconnected loops that improve accessibility and flow between the Visitor Center, the historic gardens/Tower and Pinewood Estate, and takes visitors northward to link new garden spaces and the Pine Ridge Trail. Pathways have three levels of relative emphasis and varying path materials to guide visitors through the gardens more intuitively. New shuttle routes linking the Visitor Center to the historic gardens and the Tower will open up more of the gardens to our mobility-impaired visitors.
Within each of our core focus areas are phased projects that, once completed, will have transformational impact on our visitors, our earned revenue and our financial sustainability. Bok Tower Gardens is committed to sustaining the Gardens’ legacy by raising endowment funds suďŹƒcient to provide for the ongoing maintenance and stewardship of the Gardens, programs and facilities contained in this Plan.
Revitalize the Gardens’ Historic Core The heart and soul of the Gardens dwells within the grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and the Tower designed by Milton Medary. Maintaining the historic landscape garden and the Singing Tower involve investments over time to restore structures and reinvigorate plantings.
Priorities to be addressed in the first phase of this Plan include: •
Completing restoration work on the tile grilles of the Tower;
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Garden enhancements to diversify plantings, rejuvenate garden rooms and spaces, augment important vistas and continue sustainable and environmentally-friendly gardening practices.
Tell the Gardens’ Story Bok Tower Gardens is a unique garden with a vibrant sense of place and timelessness. Sharing our history helps people to understand fully Edward Bok’s legacy and his wish to inspire others “to make the world a bit better or more beautiful.” The Gardens intends to invest in projects to develop fresh interpretation of key themes so that visitors may appreciate and deepen their connection to the Gardens.
Priorities to be addressed in the first phase of this Plan include: •
Renovation of the Visitor Center Exhibit Hall with dynamic and vivid displays;
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The new Florida Gardens will celebrate native plants and link physically and programmatically to the environmental discovery message of the Children’s Garden and provide seamless transition to the Pine Ridge Trail and Preserve;
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The great lawn and pine grove area behind the Visitor Center will be an event space and have new prominence as the entryway to the Gardens.
Future projects call for enhancements to integrate Pinewood Estate and its gardens more fully into the Gardens’ story, as well as to make Pinewood Estate functional for rentals and events. The Pine Ridge Preserve will have a sitting shelter and be enhanced with native sandhill plantings.
Steward the Gardens’ Future Maintaining relevancy and appeal among current and future generations of visitors is essential to the Gardens’ long-term vitality and sustainability, and the continued fulfillment of its original vision. Several of the Plan’s projects have the potential to create new and lasting positive impacts and a broader appeal to garden visitors. •
A new garden for children to learn through play will celebrate nature and the importance of plants to man and animals to engage, educate, delight and inspire.
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Surfacing the primary paths and re-grading others to improve wheeled access throughout the Gardens;
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Improving the wayfinding that connects points of interest to improve visitor navigation; and
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Realigning the current shuttle route so that those with limited mobility are able to see more of the historic gardens.
Future plans (15 to 20 years) include: •
An Education & Event Center on the site of the old café (current Olmsted House) to meet the demand for larger indoor rental space, while offering a mid-sized outdoor performance venue for concerts;
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Investments to the exterior of the Visitor Center to offer visitors a clearer arrival experience;
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Protection of our entry road vistas by preserving citrus groves and creating scenic buffers with naturalistic plantings of pines oaks, grasses and wildflowers;
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Replacement of our gatehouse to meet changing land use and security needs; and
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Expansion of the existing Plant Shop to meet retail demand.
Acknowledgements The 2011 Master Plan is a flexible framework for giving living form to the Goals and Action Strategies set forth in the Gardens’ Long Range Fundamental Plan 2011-2015 developed in May of 2010. The Master Plan is an essential complement to, augmentation of and companion to the Fundamental Plan. The two are inextricably linked. The Gardens included a wide range of participants in the creative process of envisioning its future. The consultant planning team consisted of Tres Fromme of Studio Outside and David Sacks, RLA who brought extraordinary talent, guidance and creativity to this process. Staff, volunteers, Garden members, community leaders, board members and educators all contributed their expertise, perspectives, ideas and hopes during three interactive workshops and review sessions. A core planning team guided the process between workshops and presentations. The Bok Tower Gardens board of directors approved the 2011 Master Plan on September 13, 2011.
We are indebted to the following for making the vision for Bok Tower Gardens’ future possible: Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Wood, Jr. Bok Tower Gardens Board of Directors and Staff Bok Tower Gardens Master Planning Committee
Photographs by Al Barg, Martin Corbin, John Moran, David Price and W.S. Randall.
1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales, FL 33853 - 863.676.1408
www.boktowergardens.org