Garden upgrades

Exciting Garden upgrades are coming to your Botanic Gardens

In the 2020-21 State Budget, Adelaide Botanic Garden, Botanic Park and Mount Lofty Botanic Garden were allocated $12.2 million for back-to-basic upgrades to enable the re-vitalisation of visitor amenity and heritage infrastructure at these important and popular Botanic Gardens.

Adelaide Botanic Garden

Adelaide Botanic Garden was assigned a total of $9.2 million for four types of works. These are:

Upgrade of public amenities:

The following free standing toilet facilities will be demolished and rebuilt in the same location with modern and sustainable practices to include male and female toilets, family rooms with provision for children and accessible toilets:

• Simpson Kiosk (next to the Main Lake)
• Francis Arbor (on the western border shared with Lot Fourteen)
• Classgrounds (adjacent to Plane Tree Drive, Botanic Park)

The following toilets located within larger buildings will also be upgraded, aiming to improve ventilation and amenity.

• Schomburgk Pavilion (next to the Museum of Economic Botany)
• Noel Lothian Hall (at the back of the Tram Barn, opposite the Little Sprouts Kitchen Garden)

Boost lighting and security:

• Permanent lighting that is both energy efficient but also sympathetic to a heritage garden will be installed in key locations within the Garden. The lighting will enable more evening events and curated experiences to happen throughout a longer time of the year, as well as supporting later opening hours of the garden.
• CCTV and security lighting will be installed in key locations to protect the Gardens property and provide additional public safety at night.
  
  

Implement critical building restoration works on heritage-listed buildings:

• Upgrades to the heritage-listed old Tram Barn, which houses the State Herbarium will take place.
  In this building, scientists undertake vital scientific botanical research. It also holds the state’s scientific botanical collections. Works will include salt damp remediation, roof sarking and roof insulation, all of which will help to manage temperature and humidity in the building, something the precious collections are at risk from. Additional shelving will also be installed to enable safer and more efficient storage of the Herbarium’s 1.2 million plus botanical collections.
• Completing the wall repointing works and roof replacement of the heritage-listed Goodman Building, the admin centre of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium. This will involve the replacement and repair of the slate roof and eliminate water leaks into building.
  

Botanic Park

Vital upgrades to irrigation in Botanic Park:

• Installation of a modern irrigation system in Botanic Park will enable world-class events and activities to prosper for the enjoyment of local, interstate and overseas visitors, and to support local businesses, whilst minimising impact on the site's lawns and trees.

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden

As part of the funding package for the Mount Lofty precinct, Mount Lofty Botanic Garden received a funding boost of $3 million. This will be spent on three separate projects:

Additional car parking:

A new car park will provide much needed additional car parking to assist with increased demand during busy periods, particularly in autumn and spring. It will include both iconic deciduous and native plants and trees, providing shade, privacy and colour to the location. It will be supported by a new footpath proposed to be constructed from the carpark to the Garden's lower carpark entrance. A new passenger drop zone and a new pedestrian entrance in the Garden's Lower carpark will be created.

New public conveniences:

Old toilet blocks located at both the Lower and Upper car parks will be rebuilt and include family facilities, accessible toilets and sheltering areas. Two existing trees will need to be removed but their timber will be recycled and used within the new toilet block build. A new path from the toilets to the main visitor precinct will also be built to enable safer passage of pedestrians.

Upgrades to trails and wayfinding signage:

To improve access to the iconic horticultural displays and scenic vistas, up to seven existing trails will be upgraded, including through Rhododendron Gully, Magnolia Gully, and the Nature Trail - which is part of the Heysen Trail.
Installation of new way-finding signage and trail markers will also add to the visitor experience and appreciation of the Garden and its much loved vistas.