To: Dr. David Graper, Director, McCrory Gardens, Dr. Barry Dunn, Dean, College of Agriculture & Biological Sciences, and Dr. David L. Chicoine, President, South Dakota State University
Keep public admission to McCrory Gardens free
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We request South Dakota State University and McCrory Gardens to rescind proposed admission fees and actively pursue other funding options. We ask that access to the Gardens be enhanced through additional open gates in the security fence.
Why is this important?
Since its establishment in the 1960s McCrory Gardens has been free and open to the public. We have strolled without restriction among the plantings with family, friends, and visitors.
A general admission fee is proposed to begin in the spring and a 6-foot wrought iron fence has been erected around the Gardens. These changes will end McCrory's long-standing tradition as a public space.
Our community has been fortunate to have this beautiful botanical gem in our midst and its unfettered access to all has been its greatest asset. Through the Garden we could nurture our nature-dependent psyches and guide our children to explore and love the living world around them.
Charging admission and funneling entrance through the Visitor’s Center will discourage the Garden's many casual visitors. Some community members, unable to afford Friends membership or admission fees (modest though they may be), will similarly be unable to partake of McCrory's restorative benefits.
We have been told that McCrory has an annual budget shortfall of $100,000 yet the estimated admission revenue is only $15-20,000 per year. The community of Brookings has supported the Gardens for nearly 50 years and will continue to enthusiastically support McCrory as the public space we have enjoyed these many decades.
Many other institutions of higher education administer botanical gardens and arboretums that are free and open to the public. Among these are the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, University of California; University of Delaware Botanic Gardens; Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens, Middle Georgia State College; Kansas State University Gardens; Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden, University of Maine; The Botanical Garden of Smith College; Matthaei Botanical Gardens, University of Michigan; University of Nebraska-Lincoln Botanical Garden and Arboretum; Rutgers Gardens; Cornell Plantations; Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University; North Carolina Botanical Garden; University of North Carolina; Reynolda Gardens, Wake Forest University; Kalmia Gardens, Coker College; and South Carolina Botanical Garden, Clemson University.
While some of these examples may not be exactly analogous to McCrory perhaps their funding mechanisms can be adapted to McCrory. Any number of fundraising ideas, individually or in tandem, has the potential to generate more revenue than charging admission. Corporate or city sponsorship might be options. Annual fundraising drives. Admission fees for events such as the annual Garden Party. Unlike the alienating admission fee, events can generate awareness and good will as well as funds. Please explore and exhaust other options before resorting to general admission fees.
We understand the need for security for the Garden's donated and sponsored plantings as well as the research areas and we hope the fence will deter senseless vandalism. However, the fence is a barrier, both physical and psychological, that isolates McCrory from the community in which it has always been integral.
We request that the west parking area be reopened and that the gate in that area be kept open during daylight hours. The Gardens should also have additional gates for emergency entrance or exit.