Growing momentum

After more than a decade of planning, fundraising, and community conversations, the future botanical garden at McIntire Park is starting to feel less like an idea and more like an inevitability. The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont announced in late 2025 that it surpassed $10 million in fundraising for the long-awaited project—Central Virginia’s first botanical garden.

The roots of the effort stretch back to 2009, when Charlottesville residents gathered for public input sessions about the future of McIntire Park after construction of the John Warner Parkway displaced the golf course there. A botanical garden quickly emerged as one of the community’s most popular ideas, and the nonprofit Botanical Garden of the Piedmont—founded just a year earlier—eventually became the city’s official partner in bringing it to life.

Though the full garden has yet to be built, the site has already become a lively public space. Since opening the reserve to visitors in 2020, the organization has hosted hundreds of programs and events, drawing thousands of people for walks, workshops, art, and outdoor gatherings. The ongoing Botanical Art Festival is just the latest example of how the space has evolved into a community destination well before construction crews arrive.

With construction expected to begin next year, the garden’s long slow bloom appears to be entering a new phase.

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