Plans for Mead Garden

“You can’t see it yet,” Jeff Blydenburgh says pointing over the expansive marshland of Mead Garden, “but it’s going to be great.”

Blydenburgh’s hand waves over a nondescript fringe of wetland that looks more like overgrown brush woven through black construction fences than an eye-catching ecological utopia. But through his glasses, he sees something far more inviting — the future of Mead Garden.

Just ahead, near the edge of an overgrown pond area, the newly named director of Mead Botanical Garden Inc. sees a outdoor concert pavilion, built to blend seamlessly into the nature surrounding it, where Central Florida residents will flock to enjoy the music of the Florida Youth Symphony Orchestra.

To his right, in place of a stark white steel barn, he envisions a solar-powered 3,500-square-foot “Discovery Place” with French doors and terraces where summer campers can learn and wedding receptions can be held.

Blydenburgh hopes the ongoing renovations will make Mead Garden a place not only for bird watchers, gardeners and geocachers to enjoy, but a place where all residents will want to come explore. But, he says, this can’t be done without the citizens’ help and support. “In the end, the project’s success will all come down to money,” he said.

Gardens in a wild place

Mead Garden has been a staple in Winter Park since the 1930s. In recent decades, the garden had fallen into disrepair, and it wasn’t until 2003 that a concerted effort was made to preserve it with the formation of the nonprofit organization Friends of Mead Garden.

Today its name might be different, recently having announced the shift to being called simply Mead Botanical Garden Inc., but Blydenburgh says the members’ mission is still the same: to raise awareness and funds to restore the garden and preserve its “wild” nature.

In Mead Garden, visitors will not find manicured topiaries or neatly lined flowerbeds. Instead, Blydenburgh says, the supporters of the garden pride it on being about “gardens in a wild place” where nature rules and humans only nurture.

The planned renovations, he says, will be made with the same ideal in mind. Eventually parking will be moved closer to the entrance of South Denning Drive so cars won’t interrupt the natural element of the garden. The new concert pavilion, he says, will also be designed around nature.

“We want it to stay a garden where there are concerts occasionally, not a concert venue with a garden around it,” he said.

Finding funding

As Blydenburgh mentioned, none of these renovations can go forward without funding. The total cost of the master plan for the garden’s overall renovation will be about $4.5 million.

“If all the funding comes together now, it could all be done in three years,” he said. “But if the money, say, doesn’t come through for another 10 years, well then it’ll take 10 years.”

One facet of funding that has come through is for the outdoor concert pavilion. Mead Botanical Garden, the Winter Park Parks and Recreation Department and the Florida Youth Symphony Orchestra have joined together to make the venue a reality. An anonymous donor through the FYSO has funded half of the project’s $500,000 price tag.

“It’s amazing that the donor thought enough of us, that they wanted to do this and make it happen through us,” said Vicki Sprysenski, director of special events for the FYSO.

She said the FYSO — which is composed of music students from seven different Central Florida counties — looks forward to performing on the stage, and also sharing it with other local performing arts groups.

“It’s really special when you hear music in a setting like that,” she said. “It’s going to be a really a nice place just to sit and have a picnic in the evening whether there’s a concert going on or not.”

She said FYSO chose Mead Garden over three other potential outdoor locations for the venue because of its atmosphere and centralized Winter Park location.

“We’re excited about getting known a little more in the Winter Park community,” she said, “and also having the community learn a little more about us.”

The pavilion is set for completion in May 2012.

Funding for basic renovations for Discovery Place are also currently in the works — with enough work slated to be completed for the barn to be used as a base-camp for the Mead Garden Summer Camp starting June 20.

John Holland, the director of the Parks and Recreation department for Winter Park, said in addition to the yearly $100,000 maintenance funding provided to the garden, the city is working on securing grants to further renovations and get closer to Blydenburgh’s overall vision.

“They’re getting their footing and taking steps forward,” Holland said. “I think [the park]’s future looks pretty bright.”

Camps

In order to teach the next generation the value of not only Mead Garden but the entire environment that surrounds them, Mead is offering seven weeklong nature summer camps.

There are four camp divisions: Nature Camp for ages 5 -11; Young Naturalist Camp for ages 9-13 where campers learn how nature works; Earth Defenders Camp for ages 9-13 where campers learn how to work with nature; and Wild for Biology for ages 14-16.

The fee for each weeklong camp is $225, with part of this money going directly back to the gardens to further restoration efforts. Registration is still open. Visit www.meadgarden.org