VANCOUVER — A group fighting to save the Bloedel Conservatory delivered to the park board Thursday its proposal to retain the domed landmark by making it part of VanDusen Gardens.
The park board had asked for proposals on how to manage the conservatory following a public outcry over a 2009 decision to close the dome to help meet budget cuts imposed by the City of Vancouver. The board will also be considering private plans for other uses of the conservatory.
John Coupar, president of the Friends of Bloedel Floral Conservatory, said the group delivered a business plan to the park board with the VanDusen Botanical Garden Association.
Coupar would not release details of the plan, saying the document was not yet public, but he said the idea is the Bloedel Conservatory would become a facility of VanDusen.
"It would be maintained as a floral conservatory and the birds and plants would stay the same," he said. "And it would be kept in public hands."
He said the professional marketing team at VanDusen could breathe new life into the conservatory and attract more visitors. The proposal also involves revamping the gift shop, bringing more bus tours to the site and holding more events, such as symphony nights or plant sales.
The group is confident it can increase attendance by 70,000 people a year. Coupar said that would eliminate the significant operating shortfall, the reason the conservatory was put on the chopping block.
The park board has been subsidizing the conservatory by $250,000 a year because of declining attendance.
"In its heyday it used to get 70,000 in the month of July," Coupar said. "In the first year it opened in 1969 it got 500,000 a year. So I am confident we can improve attendance."
Joyce Courtney, a spokeswoman for the park board, said the board expected multiple proposals for the conservatory but she wouldn’t know how many until the Monday deadline.
The conservatory was initially scheduled for closure March 1 but will remain open until its future is determined.
"It is open to the public and I understand it has been quite busy up there," Courtney said.
The board will review the proposals during the month of May and then present them to the park board commissioners.
Facing a $2.8-million shortfall in its 2010 operating budget, the board voted last November to cut services and close certain facilities, including the conservatory and the Stanley Park petting zoo. Public outrage ensued over the looming elimination of two Vancouver landmarks.
The 40-year-old Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park is home to a wide range of tropical and desert plants, as well as more than 100 free-flying tropical birds, koi fish and large parrots.
Since the closure announcement, the Friends of Bloedel group has been working to raise awareness and raise funds to keep the conservatory open.
The conservatory has blamed Canada Line construction for low attendance at the site when work on the transit system along Cambie Street blocked access to the park for more than two years.
ticrawford@vancouversun.com
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.