By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
The executive director of Monk Botanical Gardens is defending a decision to rename the space and start charging admission, as public outcry continues to reverberate.
Reaction to an announcement Friday that the park would be renamed Wausau Botanic Gardens has been overwhelming. A petition to reverse that decision has so far been signed more than 1,700 times, and hundreds of commenters on social media spoke out against the change – and the decision to create a fee to enter.
Darcie Howard, executive director of Monk Gardens, is pushing back against the criticism. In an email to Wausau Pilot on Sunday, Howard said the gardens needs a revenue source to support planned growth, a multi-phase plan that includes a large visitor center and other new amenities.
“Since the 19 of the 30 acres that makes up the Gardens was donated by Mr Monk there has always been plans to create a Visitor Center and begin charging,” Howard said. “Mr. Monk donated the land to a nonprofit- which our official name has not changed- Robert W Monk Gardens Inc. we do not receive any money from any municipalities and we did not receive a huge endowment to support the development and growth of the Gardens with the land donation.”
Howard said a donor helped purchase an additional 10 acres of land in 2017 from the Monk Family so that the organization would own all the land within the fenced area.
“We are giving back to the community that has helped us created the gardens,” she said.
But many residents are furious over the change and consider it a “slap in the face” to the Monk family. Some, including Darcey Westcott, say they have been blocked from the Wausau Botanic Gardens Facebook page after posting critical messages. Westcott, who actually created the Monk Gardens Facebook page for the organization, created their brochures and marketing materials and led their marketing team as a past board member, has been especially vocal about the changes.
“I love the Gardens for what they ‘stood’ for…and for expressing my dismay and disheartening of the name travesty I’m totally blocked from the page? The BOD really is cutting out their history and their passionate advocates of Monk’s dream. You’re definitely showing your true colors to the community,” Westcott wrote.
Another reader, Dean Witter, said one need only look across town at the world-renowned Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum to realize that “Wausau” need not be in the name for an attraction to thrive. He said he is embarrassed that an organization in his hometown would make such a disrespectful decision.
“I am a Wausau native who now lives in the Madison area and we love visiting Olbrich Gardens, which is a widely known gem without having “Madison” in its name,” Witter wrote. “Likewise, the always-free Henry Vilas Zoo is a wildly popular Madison attraction that doesn’t need the city’s name to thrive. I agree that this is a slap in the face at Mr. Monk and his family.”
Today, the Gardens are free to enter, with a suggested $7 donation. But that, too, will change.
The fee-based membership plan, which is not yet in effect, will be $40 for an individual or $75 for a family, giving them access to the Gardens for a year along with access to more than 300 other gardens nationwide. Financial assistance will be available, she said.
“If we are to continue to create Mr. Monks vision of an educational botanical garden then we must have revenue sources,” she said. “We are committed to making the Gardens accessible to everyone.”
Howard said that the Gardens attracted about 64,000 visitors last year who contributed about $4.8 million back into the community.
