CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/24236
IN FULL BLOOM The Cape Fear Botanical Gardens prepares to open a $10 million addition | By Nomee Landis With the construction of the pavilion complex, the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens takes a leap from being a small community garden to being a regional cultural attraction. -Jennifer Hanes Sullivan door and welcome in a new season. The completion of the 28,500-square-foot pavilion will enable the Gardens to expand A its educational programs for children and adults, and it will offer the community a new venue for meetings, conventions and special occasions such as wedding receptions, corporate retreats and family reunions. The new $6.5 million pavilion will be unveiled to the public in grand style on Saturday, April 2 after more than a year of construction. The grand opening festivities will include live music, food and drinks, children’s activities, special speakers and tours of the new facility. In the meantime, however, workers will be tidying up the landscaping, hanging the pictures and arranging the furniture to make ready for the great reveal. With the construction of the pavilion complex, the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens takes a leap from being a small community garden to being a regional cultural attraction, said Jennifer Hanes Sullivan, the Gardens’ executive director. A few years ago, the nonprofit organization’s board of directors decided to help the Gardens grow and expand into a botanical destination that would rival other gardens in larger CityViewNC.com | 51 s winter departs and spring arrives with its bouquet of nodding daffodils and sprays of forsythia and dogwood blossoms, builders and decorators will be putting the finishing touches on the new pavilion complex at our city’s communal backyard, the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens. Just in time for the springtime show—and springtime weddings—the Gardens will throw open its new front