Construction is proceeding on a new 2,460-square-foot visitor center at the Clovis Botanical Garden, located in Dry Creek Park on Clovis Avenue.

The center, which was designed by noted Fresno architect Arthur Dyson, will be a place for educational displays and for meetings and workshops as well as event spaces.

Anne Clemons, president of the Clovis Botanical Garden’s Board of Directors, is excited to see the visitor center taking form. It seems like it’s been a long time coming, she said. The board had decided to proceed with building a center but then couldn’t hold fundraisers during the COVID pandemic, she said.

Fortunately, an anonymous donor supplemented the fundraising that had been occurring and made it possible to move forward with the project, she said.

It might havc been somewhat serendipitous that Clemons and other members attended a meeting on sustainable building at the Unitarian Universalist church in northeast Fresno where Dyson was a featured speaker. He’s the architect on dramatic homes, commercial buildings, churches, and schools around the country, including the Woodward Park Regional Library and University High.

During the meeting audience members were asked to introduce themselves, and so Clemons talked about the plans to build the visitor center and mentioned she was looking for advice or assistance.

“Well, there’s all kinds of contractors around there, and I’m thinking, well, maybe somebody’ll paint it,” she said. “But to my surprise, afterwards Art came up and tapped me on the shoulder and he says, ‘I’d like to help.’

“So then I fainted,” Cemons joked. “But I’m going like, oh man. OK, it’s automatically a wonderful building that costs a lot.”

Project Will Include New Parking

With everything that the city of Clovis is requiring, which includes adding a parking lot with EV stations, the project’s total cost is nearly $2 million, she said.

The parking lot will be constructed to the north of the visitor center after the building is completed, Clemons said.

Clovis Botanical Garden started with 1 acre in March 2002 after volunteers with the Clovis Botanical Garden Committee convinced city officials to let them carve out a part of Dry Creek Park for a demonstration garden of drought-resistant plants that are appropriate for landscaping in the Valley.

When the volunteers demonstrated after a few years that they could keep the garden going, the city added another 3 acres. Clovis Botanical Garden expanded its garden settings and also built a pavilion for fundraising events and also for lease to private events such as weddings.

The garden still relies on an army of volunteers to keep it in top shape throughout the year, Clemons said.

Clovis Botanical Garden now contains a children’s garden, a cactus garden, a Mediterranean garden, a South African garden, California native gardens, and a sensory garden.

Barring any delays, the new visitor center may be completed and open by next summer, Clemons said.

Dyson Talks About the Visitors Center

 

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