BUFFALO, N.Y. — There hasn’t been much sunshine at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens over the last month.
In September, the Botanical Gardens announced President and CEO Mark Mortenson had suddenly passed away, beginning a challenging few weeks for the rest of the staff.
“Mark was a friend to all of us,” Interim President and CEO Erin Grajek said. “He was a friend to a lot of people in the community, and we have felt this very deeply within our organization.”
But Wednesday night, there were new signs of growth for the future.
The Botanical Gardens held a public hearing Wednesday to discuss their planned expansion. Grajek said demand has soared, especially for school groups and events, prompting them to want to expand the 32,000-square-foot space that has existed for 124 years.
The project, which is estimated to cost nearly $30 million, will include 14,000 square feet of renovated spaces and 16,000 square feet of new construction. It will feature a relocated and accessible visitor entrance, new classrooms for field trips, summer camps and after-school programs, modern event spaces, air conditioned spaces, and an expanded gift shop and café.
“The renovations will provide a sustainable future for our organization to really support the plant collection, support our mission, support educating children, support educating every visitor that comes through the gardens to appreciate nature and appreciate plants,” Grajek said. “Through educational programming and our new education spaces, we'll be able to do that three or four times as much as we're doing it right now.”
Representatives from the gardens, Erie County and the architects and project designers behind the renovation spoke with the public Wednesday night to hear their input ahead of the construction, which is planned to start next spring and be done in 2027.
Grajek said Mortenson was a big part of planning this expansion, so they hope they can honor him with this project.
“This project was a passion for him, and he wanted this to happen, and we were all part of that passion with him,” she said. “We worked as a team, and we didn't miss a beat as far as moving things forward in this project because a lot of things are happening right now with this construction project and getting it to move forward. So we did a little bit of a shift, and we're doing it in honor of him, and because it's the right thing for the organization.”