Bridge, alpine garden unveiled at UNBC

The David Douglas Botanical Garden Society cut the ribbon on a pair of milestone develops on Saturday.

The society officially opened the Irving K. Barber Bridge constructed by volunteers last fall. The wooden pedestrian bridge spans one of the garden's waterways on UNBC's campus. Also unveiled was the Alice Wolczuk Memorial Garden -a rocky berm displaying local alpine species.

"We are celebrating a milestone in the development of the gardens," society president Sheila Malbeuf said. "A lot of the work that goes into a garden is the infrastructure below the ground. With the pathways put in it really defines the space. We have a public site that everyone can come to, now."

Construction of the bridge took five months and finished on Oct. 30.

Another new developments for the four-acre garden this year will be the addition a stone water feature near the bridge, Malbeuf said.

"The plan is for installing the water feature hardscape this summer," she said. "It's going to have three ponds that... are going to have a meandering path. They will be fed from the two containment ponds in the garden."

Tony Mogus, of the Novak Family Foundation, said the family was proud to sponsor the construction of the water feature.

"I am a graduate of UNBC. When I was attending, this was just a big, muddy hole," Mogus said. "It's come a long way. It's the trees and plants and flowers... that bring life to a campus."

Past society president Anne Martin said the garden has grown slowly over the past 20 years.

"The idea... was that our new university should have a garden for education and showcase what we can grow in our type-three climate," Martin said. "Although the soil was mostly construction rubble... we continued to work with it."

UNBC president George Iwama said the garden represents a great partnership between esthetics and education.

"The project, and this society, is not only dedicated to the beautification of a piece of land... but education. I know that professor [Hugues] Massicotte and his students will use this project for research on northern species."