General Info

With groundbreaking in late 2017 for Phase 1 Master Plan construction, Waterfront Botanical Gardens opened to the public in October 2019. The initial phase featured the Graeser Family Education Center surrounded by the Mary Lee Duthie Garden, Helen Harrigan Garden, Beargrass Creek Pathway with three water features. Currently there is no fee for admission to the Gardens as construction on the 23-acre site continues. Once a residential neighborhood (the Point), the floods of 1937 and 1945 led the City of Louisville to change it to a debris and garbage site. Closed in 1973 and capped with soil in 1981, this former Ohio Street Dump rises about 30 feet above the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek floodplain. For three decades, the capped dump slowly saw meadow grasses, wildflowers and native and invasive shrubs and trees reclaim the land to an unkempt urban green space. Today, the non-profit fundraises to complete all three phases, including a future visitor center and conservatory.With groundbreaking in late 2017 for Phase 1 Master Plan construction, Waterfront Botanical Gardens opened to the public in October 2019. The initial phase featured the Graeser Family Education Center surrounded by the Mary Lee Duthie Garden, Helen Harrigan Garden, Beargrass Creek Pathway with three water features. Currently there is no fee for admission to the Gardens as construction on the 23-acre site continues. Once a residential neighborhood (the Point), the floods of 1937 and 1945 led the City of Louisville to change it to a debris and garbage site. Closed in 1973 and capped with soil in 1981, this former Ohio Street Dump rises about 30 feet above the Ohio River and Beargrass Creek floodplain. For three decades, the capped dump slowly saw meadow grasses, wildflowers and native and invasive shrubs and trees reclaim the land to an unkempt urban green space. Today, the non-profit fundraises to complete all three phases, including a future visitor center and conservatory.