ST. LOUIS — The new $100 million Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden is still on track for its grand opening Aug. 27, with full completion of the three-phase project this coming winter.
The 90,000-square-foot project will open on budget and on time, which MoBot officials are "especially proud of" given supply chain issues, a spokeswoman told the Business Journal on Monday.
Visitors have been entering the garden through a temporary visitor's center since its completion in fall 2020 as the project's first phase.
By August, the second phase, including the new main entrance and remaining portions of the Taylor Visitor Center, will be completed. The third phase, during which the temporary visitor center will be transformed into the Bayer Event Center, will be completed this winter.
The new visitor center project was first announced in October 2019, with construction beginning in February 2020. The project is being funded entirely by private donations through the nonprofit's Gateway to the Garden campaign, which had raised $96 million as of March, with the largest donations having come from 24 local corporations.
The garden continues to raise funds toward its $100 million goal and expects to announce its fundraising progress Aug. 27, the spokeswoman said Monday, having received gifts from more than 1,000 donors so far.
MoBot is working with a large list of architects, engineers and contractors on this project, including Tao + Lee Associates, Alberici Constructors, Civil Design Inc., IMEG Corp. and KPFF Consulting Engineers, among others.
For more photos of the progress, visit the St. Louis Business Journal's website.
