Assiniboine Park project gets $2.5M boost

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This article was published 09/09/2016 (3528 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A donation of $2.5 million has been given to the Assiniboine Park Conservancy by Shirley Richardson and her family.

The money will go toward development within the Canada’s Diversity Gardens, being built as part of the Conservancy’s $200 million redevelopment campaign. Construction on the new Gardens is slated to begin in the summer of 2017. It is expected to open in late 2019.

In recognition of the financial contribution, the new butterfly area will be named the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden. The new butterfly garden will be be a year-round space located in The Leaf, which is a 6,000-square-metre indoor horticultural facility that will be the centrepiece of Canada’s Diversity Gardens.

Canada’s Diversity Gardens is a new horticultural attraction that will be located in the southeast corner of Assiniboine Park. It will have four cornerstone attractions including The Leaf, and three main outdoor spaces — the Indigenous Peoples’ Gardens, the Cultural Mosaic Gardens and The Grove.

“We are extremely grateful for the generous leadership support by Shirley Richardson and her family,” Margaret Redmond, the conservancy president and CEO, said in a statement. “Canada’s Diversity Gardens will be a place that embraces our multiculturalism as a nation and welcomes people from all walks of life to connect with each other through plant life and biodiversity. This gift will go a long way towards making this project a reality.”

The Shirley Richardson Butterfly Gardens currently located inside the Assiniboine Park Zoo, a seasonal garden, will close when the new one opens.

“The butterfly garden coming to life here at Assiniboine Park has been a dream of mine for quite some time,” Shirley Richardson stated in a press release. “It gives me and my family great pleasure to support this project and share our love of butterflies with the community.”

The money will be dispersed in several ways.

The first $2.1 million of the donation will support the capital development of Canada’s Diversity Gardens.

The remaining $400,000 will become the cornerstone of an endowment fund called ParkShare, a long-term sustainable fund which is being created to ensure that the Assiniboine Park and Assiniboine Park Zoo are accessible to everyone. Funds from the endowment will be used by the conservancy to cover the costs of transportation, admission, and education programs for children, youth and seniors groups facing financial barriers.

With the Richardson donation, the conservancy’s Imagine a Place Campaign fundraising campaign has now raised $155 million.

The Assiniboine Park redevelopment campaign has completed its first two phases. Phase I included the Nature Playground, the expansion of the Riley Family Duck Pond, and the building of the Qualico Family Centre. Phase II was focused on the zoo including the creation of the Journey to Churchill exhibit among other improvements.

 

Canada's Diversity Gardens

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