10. Penn Valley To Get Botanical Garden
Shirley Helzberg Ponys Up
Helzberg Conservatory Will Be Largest in the Midwest
Above: The new conservatory building will be similar in design the the Enid Haupt Conservatory in New York's Botanical Garden.
Penn Valley Park is getting a big present from Shirley Bush Helzberg. A conservatory and botanical garden. A big one.
Helzberg announced the endowment of the Helzberg Botanical Garden and Conservatory today while standing at the base of the Liberty Memorial.
The Botanical Garden will fill the valley area where Penn Valley Lake is located and the adjacent hillsides--including the hilltops around
The Scout, the
Pioneer Mother, and the
Firefighters Foundation. The Conservatory will be constructed in the bowl area of the valley and over Broadway, which will run under the building and a landscaped deck structure. The glassed-in conservatory building will be similar to the Enid Haupt Conservatory in New York's Botanical Garden. However, the design will be more innovative and environmentally-sound. The building will be constructed in a way to cling to hillsides and adapt to valleys instead of wide-scale earth modification. It will use modified terraces as well.
"It's going to be a unique building. We want to maintain the natural state of the park as much as possible--even in the greenhouse portion," Helzberg says. "I want it to be the best botanical garden in the country."
An additional lake will be dug south of the present lake, and it will be covered by the conservatory building so that it will be a year-round amenity.
No set amount has been announced for the endowment since Helzberg will seek other donations and make a final announcement closer to the construction date.
The City Parks Department leaders graciously accepted the gift, and Mayor Mark Funkhouser says it will be a great boon to the City, and specifically downtown and Midtown.
"This will create an activity node for residents and tourists alike," he said.
Penn Valley Park has suffered from lack of attention in recent years, and has sorely needed another public amenity to complement the Liberty Memorial and World War I Museum. Many critics have stated that the park was under-utilized and lacked patrons.
The botanical garden and conservatory will include a Japanese pagoda and Zen garden; an English rose garden; and landscaped French garden, topiary and bamboo forest; lighted trees, landscaped stairs; bridges, and monuments. Also included will be a small radio-controlled boat pond, large waterfall feature, other smaller additional waterfalls, and several public fountains. The conservatory will be the size of two football fields and will be multi-level. Helzberg has made plans to set aside space for future construction of a Natural History Museum near the corner of 31st and Memorial Drive. The park will also see the addition of wildlife in the form of ducks, geese, swans, cranes, buffalo, cattle, horses, and sheep.
"People enjoy these animals," she says. "And they will serve another purpose--keeping landscaping trimmed and providing natural fertilizer for the plantings."
"We plan many other features and enhancements later," Helzberg says. "This is just a good start."
The park will also receive better lighting and park furniture, and the plan calls for a better link to Union Cemetery to the east.
Two large-scale monuments are planned. A large monumental structure to honor Harry Truman will be placed west of the Liberty Memorial on what is now a softball park high above Broadway.
"It will be in line with the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials," Helzberg promised, "and it will be well-lighted at night so that Kansas City will have another iconic image to enjoy." The building will have several statues of Harry Truman demonstrating his many functions in life: soldier, farmer, merchant, businessman, judge, senator, president, commander-in-chief, and citizen/statesman.
A new and improved Trail-head monument to the starting point of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails is being planned. No design has been selected though.
"We'll probably submit several designs and let area residents choose the one they want built," Helzberg stated.
The Parks Department has announced that it will add additional facilities including a public swimming pool, more tennis and basketball courts, and climbing wall.
New, more formal entrances to the park on Main and Broadway are planned as well.
Helzberg has stated that no additional city funds will be required to build the facility or maintain it. The endowment will cover those expenses.
"This is my gift to the City," Helzberg says. "I pledge that it will be fantastic, fun, and a wonderland."
Helzberg says that Electric Park gardens was part of her inspiration for the new facility.
The botanical garden and conservatory will be available for rental purposes by public groups for events and family gatherings like weddings and reunions.
The new facility will be designed with energy-efficiency and water conservation in mind, and will include many native plants and species indigenous to our region as well as more exotic foreign plants.
The Plan
New lighting and pathways will be added to the park.