The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is preparing for a year of changes as they transition the entrance and office into the historic WeatherBerry home near the top of the year.
The garden will change its address to 2731 W. 2nd Street. Visitors will enter through the WeatherBerry and exit out the back of the 180-year-old house.
Executive Director Laurna Strehl said it’ll be new for the team to have a dual-functioning visitor center and operation center, but it’s something they’ve been working toward for a while.
In addition to the visitor center, they plan to open a gift shop in the springtime.
“We hope to have local items in there and garden-related and not garden-related items. At a minimum, it will be artistic what we hope to offer in our gift shop,” Strehl said.
Additionally, leading out the backdoor of the WeatherBerry will be a 21-foot tall butterfly statue welcoming guests to the garden through the “Path of Hope Healing” pathway.
The Path is a $150,000 project and intended to be uplifting to people affected by cancer, providing the experience of “healing powers of nature.”
“When you’re outside, you are experiencing the healing powers of nature, whether you know it or not, because you automatically feel lighter when you’re outside,” Strehl said.
The butterfly statue features different colored glass ribbons, coordinating with the top 12 cancers diagnosed in Kentucky in 2021. The path is a 320-foot paved pathway and is being installed by Ward Pedley Jr.
It’s planned to be fully installed by Mother’s Day 2021.
The Garden is also expanding its parking lot and installing a metal gate at its entrance.
Beyond those plans for the year, they also have other projects such as an updated landscaping design for the entrance and an event center. Their events for 2022 will be announced early this year.
