Opening the Front Door of the North Carolina Arboretum

摘要

Ease of public access constitutes a major element of a public garden's ability to sustain itself. As with a commercial business, traffic flow by the front door is an important indicator of future market potential. Certainly for The North Carolina Arboretum, this issue has been an essential ingredient in planning and development during our first twenty-six years. Officially designated The North Carolina Arboretum in 1989, the Arboretum lies on the southwestern edge of Asheville, a major tourism destination, and at the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Brevard Road. As one travels north into Asheville, three interstate highways, all within 2.5 miles of the Arboretum, cross Brevard Road. That congruence of traffic represented plenty of prospective visitors, so we were seriously interested in learning how to tap into that resource.