Rebuilding the Nation's Botanic Garden By Adrian Higgins Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 15, 1998

A 1936 view of the Palm House at the U.S. Botanic Garden. (Washington Post File Photo)

In Octobers past, the gallery was festooned with thousands of chrysanthemums and aromatic salvias. But for the event, it was about the last spot in the greenhouse with a usable floor.

Closed to the public since September of 1997, the conservatory at First Street SW and Independence Avenue is to be rebuilt over the next 24 months at a projected cost of $27.9 million. The landmark Palm House, dismantled in 1992, is to be replaced in its original Deco style. Clark Construction Group Inc. of Bethesda was awarded the contract for restoration.

Facilities had been deemed hazardous as well as in need of updating. "This place would rain on you, sometimes with water, sometimes with glass," said Rep. Robert L. Livingston, Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the appropriations committee, who like others present, helped secure emergency appropriations in 1997.

The current building was opened in 1933. But the institution dates to 1820, the oldest botanic garden in the United States. It was hailed as a national treasure with direct links to the interests and aims of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other early leaders.

Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Republican of Utah and chairman of the Senate legislative branch subcommittee of appropriations, took note of "the legacy we are passing on" to future generations. "It's part of their understanding of the American heritage and the curiosity that the Founding Fathers had about everything. There wasn't anything that didn't interest them."

The original 1933 conservatory was designed and installed by Lord & Burnham Co. of New York, the preeminent American greenhouse builder of its era. The current Architect of the Capitol, Alan M. Hantman, who ordered the facility closed 13 months ago, has made restoration a priority even though the conservatory represents a small part of his bailiwick.

The exterior is intended to look much the same as before, but will contain many new features inside, including greater accessibility for the disabled and state-of-the-art climate control and irrigation systems.

Moreover, exhibits will be reconfigured to provide clearer demonstrations of the role of plants in science, agriculture and nature. The Palm House will be refashioned as a jungle, with an elevated walk bringing visitors up to the plant canopy. Many of the plants will be returned from storage at the botanic garden's growing greenhouses in D.C. Village or replaced from other institutions around the country.

A contract for the adjoining National Garden, a $10-million, privately funded outdoor botanical park, will be awarded in the spring. Officials believe both projects will be finished simultaneously. Together with the existing Bartholdi Park on the south side of Independence Avenue, the attractions will form a national museum to horticulture on the east end of the Mall.