cut: The new wooden foot bridge at the David Douglas Botanical Garden (DDBGS) at UNBC almost dwarfs the two workers at the top of its arch.
David Douglas Botanical Garden Society members smile as they watch their "dream coming true" at the their oasis-like site at UNBC.
"A magnificent bridge has just been completed that will be a perfect venue for family and wedding photos," said Mary Jago, DDBGS development chair, of the oasis-like setting.
When complete, the bridge project will complement a rock landscape with a waterfall and water plants that thrive in northern B.C. surrounded by a water feature garden.
The bridge offers view of the Rotary pavilion, the city and the McGregor Mountains to the east.
Facing west from the bridge, visitors will see the Educational Display Garden, the Alice Wolczuk Alpine Garden and a corridor of lilacs in early summer.
A ribbon cutting ceremony next spring to celebrate the bridge and alpine garden completion will honour donors and supporters of the project: Ike Barber, the late Dr. Don Rix, Peter Bentley family, Communities in Bloom, Novak Family Foundation, Pacific Western Brewery, Clarence Wigmore who headed the task force and Scouten & Associates Engineering.
The DDBGS dates back to 1991 when 1.1 hectares of land was secured in partnership with UNBC to establish an educational display garden.
"Society members struggled over the years with little money to accomplish the impossible," said Jago.
The society's accomplishments included a landscape architect plan for present and future development, a landscape art concept and rendering of a bridge and water feature garden, an annual lecture series, garden tours and a master gardener program.
UNBC professor Darwyn Coxson is the society's science advisor who has established a committee of professors who recognize the potential for education and research outcomes.
Jago said the site is a northern legacy and a tribute to the work of Scottish botanist, David Douglas, who made the world aware of the plant species in the Pacific Northwest, including those in the Fraser-Fort George Region.
David Douglas's garden will be a place of beauty for tourists, a place of learning for students and residents, and a place of research for scientists and scholars.
