4 things to know about Bookworm Gardens' expansion as it breaks ground on new garden, education space.
SHEBOYGAN - Bookworm Gardens has broken ground on its $1 million capital expansion project.
A Family Restroom Building, Classroom Yurt and Exploration Garden will be added to the main property, near the bridge and “Three Billy Goats Gruff” garden.
The sites became priorities after the organization’s board did strategic planning in 2019 to identify main challenges, Executive Director Elizabeth Wieland said.
She said two of those challenges were lack of restrooms and a covered education space.
Bookworm Gardens shared news about the project in 2021 and has been fundraising since, reaching about $800,000 so far.
Here’s what to know about the project.
1. New restroom building will triple capacity
Wieland said the family restroom building will triple Bookworm Gardens’ restroom capacity, which has been a need since opening in 2010.
The current restrooms cannot sustain visitor numbers. Wieland said staff sometimes have to use the University of Green Bay-Sheboygan campus restrooms on busiest days.
“And when you're serving a population that does have quite a few young children that visit the gardens, quick and easy access to restrooms is so crucial and key,” she said.
The new building will have six family-friendly and ADA-accessible restrooms and a Care Room, a separate space for nursing or pumping mothers and individuals who need a low sensory experience.
Each room will be inspired by Dianna Aston’s book series, “An Egg is Quiet.”
2. Garden and yurt will provide a sensory experience and enhance outdoor learning
Educational programming for field trips, summer camps and the early childhood nature school will move from the learning cottage to the classroom yurt.
Wieland said a yurt can be great alternative to a traditional building for many botanical gardens that utilize outdoor classroom spaces.
The exploration garden will provide an experiential sensory experience, too.
Continuing with the gardens’ book-themed structures and spaces, the garden and classroom yurt will be inspired by Joyce Sidman’s “Swirl by Swirl.”
3. Restrooms expected by July, with garden and yurt possible by fall
Wieland estimates the family restrooms and site's complete excavation will be finished by mid-July.
Completion of the second phase, including the classroom yurt and exploration garden, is dependent on reaching the $1 million fundraising goal. Wieland said she’s optimistic the spaces will be ready for use by the fall.
4. The River Site may expand nature-based opportunities
Bookworm Gardens also began the master planning process for its 23.5-acre River Site, which was secured after extending its lease with the county in fall 2021.
Wieland said she imagines the higher elevated areas resembling the main site — with curated book gardens and a new education building — but there could be more nature-based experiences and learning opportunities moving along diverse terrain toward the Sheboygan River.
“As you walk down, it will be a little more wild, a little more conservation focused (and) environmental,” she said.
Here's how to get connected with Bookworm Gardens
Bookworm Gardens is at 1415 Campus Drive and can be reached at 920-287-7895 and info@bookwormgardens.org. Learn more at http://www.bookwormgardens.org/.
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Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Bookworm Gardens breaks ground on restrooms, gardens, classroom yurt
