FAYETTEVILLE -- About a year after University of Arkansas at Fayetteville reserve funds wiped away a $5.7 million deficit at Garvan Woodland Gardens, the Hot Springs tourist attraction has ended the recent fiscal year in the black -- the second year in a row the garden has avoided a deficit, its executive director said.
"We don't have the final numbers yet, but there is absolutely no way we will be in a deficit situation," Bob Bledsoe said of the fiscal year, which ended June 30, a time period when the garden's annual revenue was bolstered by about $300,000 in support from UA.
Attendance is measured by calendar year rather than fiscal year, and Bledsoe has said the number of visitors depends on the weather. But in 2014, the garden's attendance was 153,108, an increase of 18 percent compared with the 129,715 visitors in 2013.
Bledsoe estimated that the garden will see proceeds of roughly $100,000 after operating on a budget of about $2.8 million in the recently ended fiscal year.
Since opening to the public in 2002, yearly deficits were the norm for the garden, which were a gift to UA from Arkansas business leader Verna Cook Garvan, who died in 1993.
While perhaps best known for its colorful displays, the 210-acre garden also is part of UA's Fay Jones School of Architecture, where it serves as a "living laboratory" for students and faculty, according to the architecture school's website.
The decision by university leaders to use an accounting procedure to wipe away the garden's deficit -- and in the process reduce UA's available reserve funds -- "really just strengthened the lines of communication between us and the School of Architecture and the vice chancellor for finance and administration," Bledsoe said.
Now, "everybody's kind of watching the same things and watching the same trends," Bledsoe said.
The university will again provide $300,000 in support during the new fiscal year that began July 1 for the garden's budget of $3 million, said Laura Jacobs, UA's associate vice chancellor for university relations.
Proceeds earned "are reinvested in the mission of the gardens to support programming and ongoing and deferred maintenance," Jacobs wrote in an email.
Admission for adults increased to $15 in January, up from $10. Bledsoe said UA-Fayetteville leaders were "brought into the loop" as part of that decision.
"We try not to price ourselves out of the market, but we also want to value our product," Bledsoe said, adding that research was done into other markets before making the change.
The Atlanta Botanical Gardens charges $18.95 for adult admission. The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden charges $15 for adults. The Powell Gardens near Kansas City, Mo., charges $10 for adult admission during a season that begins in early March and lasts through October.
Through the first six months of 2015, admission at Garvan Woodland Gardens totaled 46,899, Jacobs said. The number represented about a 4 percent decrease compared with the 48,731 in attendance tallied in the first six months of 2014.
A naming ceremony today at the garden will designate the Stella Boyle Smith Crescent Garden, about 1.25 acres near what's known as the Garvan Pavilion. The naming will honor contributions made over several years to the garden by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Bledsoe said.
UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart plans to attend and speak at the event. Bledsoe said the ceremony also offers a chance to recognize Gearhart, who is stepping down as chancellor at the end of this month, as a "good friend" to the garden.
While the recently ended fiscal year's finances likely improved upon the previous fiscal year -- when the garden ran a surplus of $59,016, its first ever -- Bledsoe said he'd like to have steady state support for the garden.
State Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, has worked to include the garden as a recipient of state General Improvement funds, with the garden receiving about $500,000 over a time period that included fiscal year 2014.
"Garvan is very unique, and it's a great resource for the state," Sample said. "It's a great resource for Hot Springs and Garland County, and so I'm going to do everything I can to help them out and make them successful."
A Senate bill written by Sample and approved this year allows for up to $1 million in funds to go to UA for the garden, but the actual amount of funds is expected to be far less, Bledsoe said.
Bledsoe said he expects such funding through Sample's efforts to end up about $100,000, though he added that the garden is planning to apply for additional funds through the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District.
He said such one-time General Improvement funds help, but he'd prefer lawmakers to provide a regular appropriation to help meet ongoing expenses, such as staff payroll.
"We have tried to get that into the Department of Higher Education's budget," Bledsoe said.
Peter MacKeith, UA's architecture dean since July 1 of last year, described the garden as "increasingly a central component" of the architecture school's curriculum and activities, listing internship and design programs in a statement released by UA.
"There has been good work by University leadership and Bob Bledsoe in putting the [garden] on solid financial footing going forward," MacKeith said in the statement.
Metro on 07/14/2015