In 2009, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, already hailed as one of Maine’s top attractions, welcomed nearly 60,000 visitors. Those numbers will only increase with the July 8 opening of the Bibby and Harold Alfond Children’s Garden. The organization continues to win awards for its designs, as well as for its innovative management; but Maine’s first and only botanical garden isn’t about to rest on its laurels. Now, the gardens is embarking on a new, and very green, building project for its much-needed education center.
In their initial planning, the board of directors voted to expand the current capital campaign by making the forward-thinking decision to build a LEED Platinum (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) net-zero-energy structure, one which will produce as much energy as it consumes, taking advantage of the very latest technology and environmentally sound practices.
As the very first net-zero non-residential building in Maine, which is also likely to be only the second in Northern New England, the Education Center will be a model of what such projects can achieve.
The new center will solve a lack of interior space that quickly became apparent when the gardens opened to the public in 2007 and the number of visitors far exceeded expectations. While solving many of the space problems brought on by the gardens’ success, it will also help it fulfill its three-pronged mission of education, horticulture, and research.
Innovative landscaping around the structure, designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Herb Schaal, a principal of EDAW Inc., in Fort Collins, Col., will demonstrate a variety of sustainable features, including native plant groupings, rain gardens that collect and use rainwater, and wildlife habitats.
“The Education Center itself will be a teaching tool in which tours, interpretative signage, and programs will help visitors understand alternative forms of energy and the reasons for green design and construction,” explains the CMBG executive director, Maureen Heffernan. “I am excited about the addition of this important facility to the gardens’ campus.”
The design team of Maclay Architects of Waitsfield, Vt.; Scott Simons Architects from Portland; Allied Engineering from Portland; and Energy Balance Inc., of Montpelier, Vt., recently participated in a two-day charrette facilitated by the gardens’ sustainability representative and LEED consultant, Fore Solutions of Portland, to begin exploring design possibilities with the CMBG staff, board members and the Education Center Committee, chaired by board of directors member Dick O’Connor of Edgecomb.
President of the board of directors John R. Giles said, “There is considerable interest in constructing a net-zero-energy building. It is tantamount to providing the building with its own operating endowment, as it will produce operating efficiencies every year. It is significant that the gardens will be at the forefront of this exemplary movement.”
By expanding the Planting A Living Legacy capital campaign to build and endow the Education Center, the board voted to increase the campaign goal by $4.5 million to $24.5 million, $17 million of which has been raised. Although planning for the Education Center is under way, construction will not begin until a substantial amount of the building’s cost is raised. Other goals included in the ongoing campaign are to complete the master plan, retire remaining debt, and build the endowment to at least $4.5 million.
To learn more, call 633-4333 or visit MaineGardens.org, or stop by the gardens on Barters Island Road in Boothbay.
