Botanic Garden’s Plan to Grow, Improve OKd

The County Board of Supervisors has approved a 20-year plan for expanding facilities and improving public access to the South Coast Botanic Garden.

The board’s approval Tuesday clears the way for $14.2 million in work at the Palos Verdes Peninsula garden. Most of the cost will be paid for through private fund raising.

Construction of a new gift shop and entrance already has begun, funded by donations from the garden’s foundation and other private organizations. Nearly $600,000 in contributions has been collected this year for work at the garden, said Jane Au, president of the South Bay Botanic Garden Foundation.

Supporters also are hoping for the passage of a county bond measure in November that would provide $10 million for the South Bay garden and three other gardens operated by the county.

The master plan for the garden calls for construction of a Japanese garden and teahouse, a food service area, more paths around the 87-acre park and a stream through the center of the garden.

A garden for the handicapped will feature signs in Braille for the blind and raised flower beds that will permit wheelchair-users to touch and smell plants.

The garden is slated to receive a new tram before the end of the year.

Au said the tram will be critical in expanding the number of visitors above the 100,000 logged last year because it will encourage children, the elderly and the handicapped to visit the garden.

A previous tram service was closed down three years ago because the vehicles were too narrow and unstable for the garden’s uneven paths.