Volume 26 · Number 1 · Fall 2008
The Second Century
UC Davis Arboretum GATEways Project
GATEways means Gardens, Arts and The Environment, and they will all be brought together in an ambitious development of the two-mile arboretum that will enhance its role as an inviting campus portal and source of information about the activities of the academic areas it passes through. A network of paths will connect visitors with educational landscapes, public art, outreach centers, performance spaces, and seating and eating areas.
Starting at its east end, a City Arts GATEway, adjacent to downtown Davis, will focus on the arts. It will draw people into the campus along an “arts walk” through the music/theatre/art district of campus and will also focus on families with a Kids Place Garden near campus family housing and the Center for Child and Family Studies.
A University GATEway at the campus’s new south entrance will bring in visitors from I-80 and introduce them to the work of UC Davis scientists and scholars through educational programming, exhibits and interpreted gardens and landscapes. This GATEway will include a Native American Heritage Garden, Geology Garden, Food and Wine Garden, Watershed Sciences Garden and Animal Science Teaching Garden.
Then, at the west end of the arboretum, plans call for a new discovery center for visitors and for educational outreach. Here the focus will be on the environment and UC Davis’ expertise in plant sciences, urban horticulture, restoration biology, sustainable technologies and science education.
The transformation has already begun, with the completion of the Arboretum Terrace Garden connecting the campus to downtown Davis and with the renovation of the Redwood Grove. To continue the work, a designer was hired after a national search: alumnus Ron Lutsko, a landscape architect from Lafayette who graduated from UC Davis with degrees in plant science in 1977 and in environmental planning and management in 1980. The GATEways project will continue in stages as buildings are constructed and renovated along the way.
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