The Botanical Garden announced that the Ron and Lydia Harrington Perennial Playspace, which overlooks the plants and trees in the building's glasshouses, will open to the public on Saturday, March 19. It has multiple stations and features designed to 'celebrate the importance and variation of plants both locally and around the world.'
A new, permanent exhibition at the Cleveland Botanical Garden that aims to foster play for children and families will open next month.
The Botanical Garden on Thursday, Feb. 17, announced that the Ron and Lydia Harrington Perennial Playspace, which overlooks the plants and trees in the building's glasshouses, will open to the public on Saturday, March 19.
Jill Koski, president and CEO of Holden Forests & Gardens, the organization that operates the Botanical Garden in University Circle and the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, described the new feature as a "four-season learning and enrichment space." She said guests will be able to "use play, observation, creativity and other hands-on opportunities to create personal and relevant links to their natural surroundings."
The Botanical Garden said in a news release that it worked with experiential design firm Roto Group "to deliver full sensory engagement and experiences that forge genuine connections."
A spokeswoman for the Botanical Garden wrote in an email that the 2,200-square-foot space cost about $600,000 to create.
In the release, the Botanical Garden said the new space used plants and trees native to Northeast Ohio, as well as those in the glasshouses, to "celebrate the importance and variation of plants both locally and around the world."
Among the Playspace's features are a magnification station to view plants under magnifiers to reveal surprising and beautiful details of various plants; a station that "will allow kids to get their hands into dirt or other plant materials, and learn about the natural world through touch"; a honeycomb cluster that "encourages kids to buzz around the beehive and pretend to live like a bee"; and an area where guests "can have fun making sounds and songs using bamboo, gourds and more."
Author: Scott Suttell
