Kingwood Center Gardens celebrates 70th anniversary of gardens being open to public
Kingwood Center Gardens Tuesday afternoon celebrated the 70th anniversary of Kingwood's opening as a public garden.
The rededication paid tribute to the original 1953 event by following the order of service, featuring similar presenters and keeping the same date and time on Oct. 10.
According to the News Journal archives, in October 1953, there was a three-day dedication program that got under way with a buffet dinner at Kingwood for 175 civic leaders. The dedication ceremonies continued with national garden leaders and Chief Justice Carl Weygandt of the Ohio Supreme Court as speakers.
Local community leaders gathered at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the forecourt of Kingwood Hall for the ceremony, seated on white chairs on the lawn outside the Kingwood Hall mansion's front doors.
Kingwood Center Gardens has been open since 1953 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Charles Kelley King began creating Kingwood in 1926 when he and his wife commissioned the construction of their mansion and the estate around it. Following his death in 1952, the Kingwood trust agreement took effect, transforming his private estate into a public garden.
King acquired his wealth through his rise to president and then chairman of the board of the Ohio Brass Company. The endowment he left remains the single largest source of financial support for the operation of the gardens.
Tuesday's program featured about 10 guest speakers, including David D. Carto, chairman of the Kingwood administrative board, whose grandfather George L. Draffan, was the first chairman of the Kingwood administrative board who spoke at the dedication 70 years ago; a keynote address by R. William Thomas, executive director of Chanticleer Gardens; Richland County Common Pleas Court Judges Brent Robinson and Phil Naumoff, and Josh Steffen, the current executive director of Kingwood Center Gardens, who is the fifth executive director of Kingwood's 47-acre estate at 50 North Trimble Road.
Many guests shared memories of Kingwood Center
Helen Marshall came to the podium to speak briefly. She attended the first dedication in 1953 when she was a Girl Scout and volunteered at the mansion, specifically saying she stood outside the drawing room where Mr. King used to entertain. She even wore her Girl Scout sash beneath her coat.
The rededication ceremony took guests through changes and improvements at Kingwood Center Gardens such as the rebuilding of the duck pond, and the new Garden Gateway visitor center, which opened with a celebration in 2020. The $10 million project features a new visitor center, an on-site café, new seating areas, an exhibit gallery and a gift shop featuring a new greenhouse area and garden shop space.
Naumoff was among the guests who shared his memories of Kingwood.
"This place holds deep meaning to my family, and as kids, and not having a lot of money and not being able to do a lot of things, our parents brought us all the time to see the flowers, the ducks, the geese and the peacocks which were of great interest to us and it was something spectacular that no place had," said Naumoff. "This place has been a hidden gem for a long time.... I don't think it's hidden anymore. It's becoming well known and well respected. My wife and I have been members here for several years now."
He and his wife have continued to bring their granddaughter to Kingwood over and over.
About Kingwood Center Gardens
Kingwood Hall is a massive, stunning exemplar of a French Chateau-style home with Georgian Revival influences; it was designed by Clarence Mack and completed in 1926.
Kingwood is renowned for its distinctive floral displays, unique plant specimens, woodland trails, historic mansion and gardens, display greenhouse, duck pond and peacocks. Signature events such as the Great Pumpkin Glow and Christmas at Kingwood delight tens of thousands of guests annually while providing vital support for this nonprofit organization.
Stability, dedication and vision assure Kingwood's future
Carto said three qualities have contributed to the success of Kingwood Center: stability, dedication and vision.
"Stability as ensured by the trust itself and Charles Kelley King's vision that he left in that trust and the way he set up Kingwood Center so it would continue to be governed in a very stable and predictable way by establishing a financial corpus that has continued to grow while also funding the operations of Kingwood in addition to its own operational revenues. The board and trustee longevity, the fact that it's a small board with long-term commitment. Its oversight is somewhat limited just to make sure that the vision that is expressed in the trust is fulfilled. The stability of this institution is also made by the skill and dedication of its staff and its volunteers without which Mr. King's vision could not have been possibly realized. And the commitment of the people of this community to Mr. King's vision and their enjoyment of it and their support of it, all of that lends itself to the stability that had made sure that Kingwood continues for another 70 years and beyond."
Carto told the crowd that the next five years the Kingwood board will be dedicated to repairing and restoring "Mr. King's formal gardens" using a 2002 study that former executive director Chuck Gleaves and the board embarked upon.
Carto said the formal gardens will be redone with the financial help of the community and staff.
lwhitmir@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Charles Kelley King's private estate became a public garden in 1953.
