After 10 years the Kirtland-based
Holden Arboretum had no choice but to raise its annual membership and
daily admission rates, institution officials are saying.
Commenting in the horticultural
institution's Spring edition of “Leaves,” the arboretum's
president and CEO Clem Hamilton says the new membership fee structure
is coming about “for the first time in anyone's memory.”
Yet, Hamilton says as well, that as the
institution works to build individual membership, belonging to the
arboretum includes rates that are “... still lower than almost all
of our peer institutions.”
Under the old membership format the
annual fees were $40 for one adult; $40 for two adults if one was at
least 60 years old and both were living in the same household; $50
for two adults and children 18 years of age or younger or
grandchildren 18 years of age or younger.
A stable of annual donor memberships
were available as well and include additional perks. These slots
ranged in price from $100 (Pine) to $150 (Azelea), $250 (Viburnum),
and $500 (Lilac).
The new annual membership rate
structure is now being built around $55 for individuals; $65 for
membership-plus; senior citizens get a $5 discount; Pine - $125;
Azalea - $175; and Viburnum - $300.
The arboretum's current daily general
admission policy includes $6 for non-members; $5 for those age 60 and
older as well as free on Tuesdays only; $3 for those age 6 to 18;
free for those age 5 and younger.
Also, the new daily admission fees will
be $10 for those age 19 and older; $4 for those age 6 to 18; and free
for those age 5 and younger.
In every example, says the arboretum,
the increases are not only modest but minimal and continue “to be a
great value.”
In stressing its case that additional
funding is both important and necessary for carrying out the
institution's efforts, the arboretum notes a to-do list that contains
several items that lie ahead.
Among them are new gardens and
improvements to existing ones as well updating guest amenities;
continued development of school programing; greater conservation work
on the institution's 3,600-acre platform; continued horticultural,
ecological and scientific research; and outreach to “our region's
professional, government and volunteer 'green' communities.”
For further details and for a complete
rundown on what the new fees include and represent, contact the
Holden Arboretum at 440-946-4400, with its web site being
www.holdenarb.org.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
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