Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
This says the Uncle Henry Show here on News Radio
seventy ten WNTM. Thank you for listening to the Uncle
Henry Show. Now, if you're a fan of Belengrath Gardens,
this segment of the show is for you. Yesterday they
had a big press conference out at Bellingrath Gardens to
(00:37):
announce their centennial master plan. They're coming up on the
one hundredth anniversary of the gardens being open to the public,
and so they want to do some renovations and what
they say will be improvements to the gardens to commemorate
that one hundred years and to keep the gardens going
indefinitely as long as they can. And so I thought
(00:57):
you might want to hear some of the remarks from
press conference yesterday from the Bellingrath Gardens executive director, doctor
Todd Lessang. So let's listen together. Let's listen together to
what doctor Lesang had to say about the big centennial
master plan for Bellingrath Gardens. This was recorded yesterday afternoon
(01:19):
right around three o'clock Bellgrath.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Gardens at home.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Really excited to see so many faces here and to
be at this moment in time. We are so excited
to share this centennial plan with you all today.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
We'll turn one hundred years old open to the public
in twenty thirty two.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So SENI to remember that being an interview question I
had on the board asking me what did I need
to get to work on or something if I take over,
and I said, well, we've got twelve years to get
ready for turning one hundred and we've got less than
seven now.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So and by the way, I know it sounds you're
thinking to yourself, did they hold the press conference in
a barrel or in a drum or something?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Look that's me. Look, I've only been in radio since
nineteen eighty three, so cut me some slack on how
to how to use this equipment. I'm doing my best.
I'm doing my best trying to record these things when
I'm mountain about. But again, I've only been doing this
since eighty three, so cut me a little slack in
(02:22):
terms of audio quality. But back to the executive director
of Bellingrath Gardens, doctor Todd Les, sang.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The centennial will celebrate when belly Grath was first open
to the public.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So it did exist before then, but it was in
one of these days in May.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Tom mcgeez helped us figure out when there was the
largest traffic jam in Mobile County's history at that point
in time because everyone was coming.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Out to see these lovely gardens. So while looking to
celebrate the past one hundred years.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
We also want to look to the next century for
growth and inspiration.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
This master plan is our road now.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It shows how we'll both preserve while also enhancing the
historic spaces that everyone has come to know and love
and cherish.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
By the way, as somebody older, I like it when
they want to preserve the older. In fact, we should
all be preserving things as old as me.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It will improve the visitor experience, which is so important
today and continuing to attract people to destinations like this,
and it will ensure that Bellingrad remains a premier Gulf
Coast destination for generations to come.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I'll highlight three areas.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The first, which we're going to commence design work on tomorrow,
is the restoration of the historic core, so the heart
of the gardens, the area of the gold Garden sets
near the home, and the beancal rebuilding. Those were some
of the original places that were built and we're going
to start from there. Go down to the Foul River
(04:11):
on the one side and go to Mirror Lake on
the other. We're going to be diving into that. Secondly,
we look.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Forward to a new children's and family adventure.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Garden, a children and family's adventure garden. Now I haven't
looked at the plans myself, but this is going to
be I don't even know if they've got that drawn
up yet or not, but that is going to be
very I don't even have to see it to know
that it'll be hugely popular.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Which we'll be designed to spark curiosity in learning for
the youngest people in our community and their.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Parents too, of course, and their grandparents.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And we're excited. We'll have some news to share on that.
We feel very sick, but not for today. And lastly,
and I could talk about five or ten more areas
in the garden. We want to bring back the Camellia Arboretum,
which was developed after mister Bellingrath died by the board
(05:10):
who had lost their friend, their mentor their business partner
and so many other things in the late nineteen fifties
early sixties, only to see the darn thing smashed by
Hurricane Rederick in nineteen seventy nine, as so many things
were right, we're going to bring it back. And we
have some people in the Camellia world who are quite
excited about that.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Y'all so inside pausing, they're just to say, Camellia people,
the most enthusiastic garden people I've ever met on the
Gulf Coast are people that are all about Camellias. They
are just I don't know what it is, but there's
something about Camille is that gets people very very wound up.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Marine restoration of spaces that need restoration, reimagining of spaces
that were in this case destroyed as in the Camille
or of a read them but the bones still exist
in some parts, and then envisioning new spaces. None of
this would be possible without the strong foundation of the
(06:13):
operations support that we have here and also the incredible
support of the community, the leadership of our board. Thank you,
Preston Ray, You're in here, there you are, and the
tremendous staff that I have.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I cannot thank the staff enough. They're here throughout this room.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
If you see what these little tags on, feel free
to say hello and thank them.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So just last.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Fiscal year, which ended on September thirtieth. We completed a
record season.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh now, this is fun stuff for me. Now, if
you're a fan of Bell and Grath, you'll enjoy this.
Listening to the numbers, they're financial numbers. Their visitor numbers
be all of our.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Numbers we hadn't done in twenty five years, y'all.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We have one hundred and eighty two thousand visitors come
through our gates. We had one hundred and six of
them come from Magic Christmas and Lives.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, that was a lot, y'all. Bo we love it.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And then we inaugurated the Gulf Coast Chinese Lantern Festival
and we saw forty six thousand people come through our
doors on that first time festival, and we're going to
have it again this year.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
This coming year.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
We have seventy people who are employed year round at
the Olograph Gardens and Home. And in twenty twenty three
we did an economic impact study and showed that we
have an annual economic impact of six and a half
million dollars, y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So we are a real business.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
A lot of people think of us only in the
tourism aspect of what we do, and the culture and
the history, but I want people to also that we're
a business and.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We contribute to the economy, and we're proud of that.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
We just recently passed a six point one million dollar budget,
and i'd like to say that of that, we're excited
that five point one million of that will come through
us earning the money million of the six and point
one we'll come from the Bellingrath Mors Foundation. So for
those who think that the Bellingrath Mors Foundation pays for
(08:07):
everything that happens here, it does not.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But I am thrilled that it exists.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Because I came from two startup gardens before where I
would have loved to have a million dollars coming into
the door every year. So we're so blessed by the
legacy that mister Bellingrath left us in nineteen fifty when
he set up that foundation.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But we also know we have.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To reach the community another way so we can continue to.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Keep the doors open.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
All right, So very very good news about Bellngrath financially healthy,
doing great numbers of people visiting bellingrathh Gardens, and it
sounds like they're putting together a fantastic plan for the future.
So good news, good news to share with you here
on the Uncle Henry Show. All Right, there's a more
show to come after the break
This says the Uncle Henry Show here on News Radio
seventy ten WNTM. Thank you for listening to the Uncle
Henry Show. Now, if you're a fan of Belengrath Gardens,
this segment of the show is for you. Yesterday they
had a big press conference out at Bellingrath Gardens to
(00:37):
announce their centennial master plan. They're coming up on the
one hundredth anniversary of the gardens being open to the public,
and so they want to do some renovations and what
they say will be improvements to the gardens to commemorate
that one hundred years and to keep the gardens going
indefinitely as long as they can. And so I thought
(00:57):
you might want to hear some of the remarks from
press conference yesterday from the Bellingrath Gardens executive director, doctor
Todd Lessang. So let's listen together. Let's listen together to
what doctor Lesang had to say about the big centennial
master plan for Bellingrath Gardens. This was recorded yesterday afternoon
(01:19):
right around three o'clock Bellgrath.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Gardens at home.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Really excited to see so many faces here and to
be at this moment in time. We are so excited
to share this centennial plan with you all today.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
We'll turn one hundred years old open to the public
in twenty thirty two.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So SENI to remember that being an interview question I
had on the board asking me what did I need
to get to work on or something if I take over,
and I said, well, we've got twelve years to get
ready for turning one hundred and we've got less than
seven now.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So and by the way, I know it sounds you're
thinking to yourself, did they hold the press conference in
a barrel or in a drum or something?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Look that's me. Look, I've only been in radio since
nineteen eighty three, so cut me some slack on how
to how to use this equipment. I'm doing my best.
I'm doing my best trying to record these things when
I'm mountain about. But again, I've only been doing this
since eighty three, so cut me a little slack in
(02:22):
terms of audio quality. But back to the executive director
of Bellingrath Gardens, doctor Todd Les, sang.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
The centennial will celebrate when belly Grath was first open
to the public.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So it did exist before then, but it was in
one of these days in May.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Tom mcgeez helped us figure out when there was the
largest traffic jam in Mobile County's history at that point
in time because everyone was coming.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Out to see these lovely gardens. So while looking to
celebrate the past one hundred years.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
We also want to look to the next century for
growth and inspiration.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
This master plan is our road now.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It shows how we'll both preserve while also enhancing the
historic spaces that everyone has come to know and love
and cherish.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
By the way, as somebody older, I like it when
they want to preserve the older. In fact, we should
all be preserving things as old as me.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
It will improve the visitor experience, which is so important
today and continuing to attract people to destinations like this,
and it will ensure that Bellingrad remains a premier Gulf
Coast destination for generations to come.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I'll highlight three areas.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The first, which we're going to commence design work on tomorrow,
is the restoration of the historic core, so the heart
of the gardens, the area of the gold Garden sets
near the home, and the beancal rebuilding. Those were some
of the original places that were built and we're going
to start from there. Go down to the Foul River
(04:11):
on the one side and go to Mirror Lake on
the other. We're going to be diving into that. Secondly,
we look.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Forward to a new children's and family adventure.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Garden, a children and family's adventure garden. Now I haven't
looked at the plans myself, but this is going to
be I don't even know if they've got that drawn
up yet or not, but that is going to be
very I don't even have to see it to know
that it'll be hugely popular.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Which we'll be designed to spark curiosity in learning for
the youngest people in our community and their.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Parents too, of course, and their grandparents.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And we're excited. We'll have some news to share on that.
We feel very sick, but not for today. And lastly,
and I could talk about five or ten more areas
in the garden. We want to bring back the Camellia Arboretum,
which was developed after mister Bellingrath died by the board
(05:10):
who had lost their friend, their mentor their business partner
and so many other things in the late nineteen fifties
early sixties, only to see the darn thing smashed by
Hurricane Rederick in nineteen seventy nine, as so many things
were right, we're going to bring it back. And we
have some people in the Camellia world who are quite
excited about that.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Y'all so inside pausing, they're just to say, Camellia people,
the most enthusiastic garden people I've ever met on the
Gulf Coast are people that are all about Camellias. They
are just I don't know what it is, but there's
something about Camille is that gets people very very wound up.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Marine restoration of spaces that need restoration, reimagining of spaces
that were in this case destroyed as in the Camille
or of a read them but the bones still exist
in some parts, and then envisioning new spaces. None of
this would be possible without the strong foundation of the
(06:13):
operations support that we have here and also the incredible
support of the community, the leadership of our board. Thank you,
Preston Ray, You're in here, there you are, and the
tremendous staff that I have.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I cannot thank the staff enough. They're here throughout this room.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
If you see what these little tags on, feel free
to say hello and thank them.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So just last.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Fiscal year, which ended on September thirtieth. We completed a
record season.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh now, this is fun stuff for me. Now, if
you're a fan of Bell and Grath, you'll enjoy this.
Listening to the numbers, they're financial numbers. Their visitor numbers
be all of our.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Numbers we hadn't done in twenty five years, y'all.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We have one hundred and eighty two thousand visitors come
through our gates. We had one hundred and six of
them come from Magic Christmas and Lives.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Yeah, that was a lot, y'all. Bo we love it.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And then we inaugurated the Gulf Coast Chinese Lantern Festival
and we saw forty six thousand people come through our
doors on that first time festival, and we're going to
have it again this year.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
This coming year.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
We have seventy people who are employed year round at
the Olograph Gardens and Home. And in twenty twenty three
we did an economic impact study and showed that we
have an annual economic impact of six and a half
million dollars, y'all.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So we are a real business.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
A lot of people think of us only in the
tourism aspect of what we do, and the culture and
the history, but I want people to also that we're
a business and.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We contribute to the economy, and we're proud of that.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
We just recently passed a six point one million dollar budget,
and i'd like to say that of that, we're excited
that five point one million of that will come through
us earning the money million of the six and point
one we'll come from the Bellingrath Mors Foundation. So for
those who think that the Bellingrath Mors Foundation pays for
(08:07):
everything that happens here, it does not.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But I am thrilled that it exists.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Because I came from two startup gardens before where I
would have loved to have a million dollars coming into
the door every year. So we're so blessed by the
legacy that mister Bellingrath left us in nineteen fifty when
he set up that foundation.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But we also know we have.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To reach the community another way so we can continue to.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Keep the doors open.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
All right, So very very good news about Bellngrath financially healthy,
doing great numbers of people visiting bellingrathh Gardens, and it
sounds like they're putting together a fantastic plan for the future.
So good news, good news to share with you here
on the Uncle Henry Show. All Right, there's a more
show to come after the break
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