CLEVELAND, Ohio, June 27, 2014 — Leaders of Cleveland Botanical Garden and The
Holden Arboretum are moving to combine their institutions into one entity with the
shared mission of improving the world through plants and trees. Such integration
would enable these two treasured public gardens to have even greater impact
through environmental education, applied botanical research and joint efforts
to promote trees, gardens and forests for the betterment of the communities of
Northeast Ohio and beyond.
"We envision our community better served by a pooling of our organizational
strengths and resources," says Natalie Ronayne, President of Cleveland Botanical
Garden in Cleveland's University Circle cultural district. "By leveraging each other's
strengths, we can create the scale necessary to become a regional and national leader
in environmental stewardship and sustainable practices for community health
Combining the Botanical Garden and Holden would create the 13th largest public
garden in the country, providing the new institution with a greater ability to raise
funds, attract top talent and most effectively serve its members, visitors and the
larger community. Such an integration of an urban botanical garden with an exurban
arboretum of equal organizational sizes is unprecedented.
