Lambert Gardens
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox park Lambert Gardens was a botanical garden of over Template:Convert in the Reed neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, USA.<ref name=statesman>Template:Cite news</ref> It opened in 1930 and closed in 1968 and had a total estimated visitor count of 2,000,000, most of them believed to be out-of-towners.<ref name=statesman/><ref name=spread>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=death>Template:Cite news</ref>
History
Andrew Lambert, a landscaper in Georgia, visited Portland in 1925 and liked the flora so much he decided to settle there permanently. He gave his half of the family business to his brother and purchased land at 5120 SE 28th Avenue in the late 1920s.<ref name=spread/> He also bought 25 unused and overgrown acres from the nearby Reed College to start his gardens and by 1930, it was a tourist attraction.<ref name=statesman/><ref name=bee>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite the high unemployment rate during the Great Depression, Lambert was able to employ 20 landscapers to look after the gardens, including the Sunken Rose Gardens and the Italian Court.<ref name=spread/><ref name=bee/> The gardens were home to peacocks, cranes such as the grey crowned crane, and flamingos.<ref name=spread/><ref name=bee/> Money from the wishing well was given to the Oregon School for the Blind.<ref name=bee/><ref name=well>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After thieves stole hundreds of dollars from the wishing well on multiple occasions, Lambert decided to put up a 10 foot fence around the perimeter of the gardens.<ref name=well/>
While most of the visitors to Lambert Gardens were from out of town, Lambert was an active part of the community.<ref name=spread/> He sold plants, including tulips imported from Holland, out of the gardens' nursery and collaborated on a number of projects with Meier & Frank. Each June, he reserved a plot for the town's Rose Festival so the elected queen and her court could take photos in front of it, and each Christmas, traditionally the slow season for botanical gardens, the Lambert Gardens had what was described as "one of the largest illuminated displays in the city".<ref name=bee/> The gardens were used for weddings, entertaining dignitaries, and political speeches.<ref name=bee/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gardens employees also appeared on local TV to give gardening demonstrations, such as preparing a flowerbed for planting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The landscaping was so popular that in 1934, Lambert and his crew were hired to plant around the nearby U.S. Customs Courthouse. Some years later, they were also hired to overhaul and renovate the grounds at the University of Portland.<ref name=bee/>
By 1968, Lambert sought a buyer for the gardens as he was becoming too old to maintain them but was unsuccessful.<ref name=bee/> A development company eventually bought the plot to build a $16 million, 1,000-unit apartment complex, called Lambert Gardens Apartments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=bee/> In 2005,Template:Citation needed another company bought the complex and renamed it Wimbledon Gardens.<ref name=bee/>
Lambert died in January 1974.<ref name=death/>
External links
- Cushman photo collection at University of Indiana archives.