The public will get its first look at the Garvan Woodland Gardens Tree House, a fanciful but educational structure suspended within the Evans Children's Adventure Garden, on June 30.
The "soft opening" for the Tree House, designed by Fayetteville-based architect modus studio, will begin at 9 a.m., garden officials said Tuesday.
Bob Bledsoe, the botanical garden's executive director, said Tuesday that the Tree House is "more than a playhouse." It is also an educational center that delves into how trees grow and propagate in a state where around 60 percent of the land is covered in forests.
The $1.862 million Tree House project was privately funded, Bledsoe said. The garden is part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design of the University of Arkansas. Bledsoe said no state funding was used as part of the project.
A news release said the Adventure Garden is about a quarter-mile stroll from the garden's Welcome Center. The Tree House, its fanciful Root Plaza and the newly renovated circular bridge in the Children's Garden will all be open on June 30.
A Tree House trolley will also be available to provide rides to and from the Tree House. Visitors may purchase a wristband for $5 each and ride all day until 5 p.m.
Sherre Freeman, Garvan Gardens' marketing director, stressed that the event is only the "soft opening" for the Tree House, adding that the grand opening will likely be this fall.
"It's going to be ready to be walked through, but the landscaping is not finished," Freeman said. "A lot of it is, but some of it's not. Some of the educational components that are going inside, and maybe outside, too, are not going to be there yet."
Garden admission is $15 for individuals ages 13 and older, $5 for children ages 4-12, and free for children younger than 3 years old. Well-behaved dogs on a short, non-retractable leash will be admitted for $5 each. Only one dog is allowed per guest.