The Garden Education Center is leading an initiative to restore the historic Montgomery Conservatory located next to its building in the Pinetum. This unique greenhouse was built by Lord and Burnham in l928 for Colonel Montgomery who owned the entire Montgomery Pinetum Property and later bequeathed it to the Town of Greenwich. Since the Town has owned the Conservatory, it has been used for the Town’s horticulture operations. However, with changing times, the Town no longer finds a need to use this building and will not be restoring it.
The building is in drastic need of repairs or it will not survive. The GEC has offered to lead the initiative to save the conservatory. Private donations have funded a preliminary engineering study which should be complete by the end of August. This study will detail the estimated extent and cost of the necessary restoration. Upon that determination, the Town and the GEC will come to an agreement whereupon the GEC will restore the building and take charge of its operating and
maintenance costs. Once restored, the conservatory will be used for the benefit of the public and will enhance the GEC education programs.
To achieve this goal, a capital campaign will ensue with donations being accepted by the GEC which is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization enabling contributions to be tax deductible. |
This is a stand alone project – not being funded by the GEC operating budget.
If you are interested in participating in this project,
please contact Karen Sadik-Khan, GEC President at ksadikkhan@aol.com.
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