CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont has surpassed $10 million in funds raised for its upcoming botanical garden project, the organization announced on Wednesday.
The current site, which is open to the public as a nature reserve, is the future location of Central Virginia’s first Botanical Garden. The plans for the project were first put in motion when the City of Charlottesville started holding community input sessions in 2009 when it became clear that the construction of John Warner Parkway would mean losing the golf course at McIntire Park.
At those sessions, the idea of a botanical garden rising to the top of the list for what the community wanted as a replacement. The city then selected the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, a non-profit founded in 2008 to advocate for the building of a botanical garden in McIntire Park, to fundraise, plan and build said park. The organization was officially designated as the city’s partner for the project in Sep. 2013…