Pacific Northwest District:Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden: A Community Gem

摘要

IT'S NOT TOO OFTEN THAT A COMMUNITY of garden lovers come together to help establish a public garden for all to enjoy. However, that is exactly what happened when Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's mid-1990s expansion required various private properties to be condemned and demolished to make room for the third runway. One of those properties on the list belonged to Ray and Elda Behm. Elda was an energetic garden lover of unusual and rare plants which she cultivated in their four-acre garden. Manyin the community couldn't bear the thought of having all of Elda's plantings (remember many were very rare plants) bulldozed away. This prompted a Burien City Council member to negotiate with the City of SeaTac to save this rare garden. It was decided in 1997 that a publicly owned botanical garden would be established adjacent to the SeaTac Community Center and the Highline Botanical Garden Foundation was formed. With the 11 acres of land now secured, the huge task could begin in moving Elda's garden to its new home. Hundreds of volunteers, orchestrated by the City of SeaTac, and the Port of Seattle managed to move Elda's garden to its new home along with a new name: Elda's Paradise Garden. The move was completed in the winter of 2000-2001 and the garden dedication was in the fall of 2001.