Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center eyes future expansion amid surge in visitors

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is developing a comprehensive plan to expand its facilities and match the “surging interest in native plants and natural landscapes,” officials shared in a late September release.

The center’s current campus opened to the public in 1995 and welcomed 45,000 guests that year. Conversely, more than 250,000 visitors stopped by the center in 2023, which includes 284 acres’ worth of gardens, trails and exhibitions, per the release.

Center leaders are collaborating with Texas-based architects Lake Flato and landscape architects Studio Outside to create the comprehensive plan. The center is looking to “expand and enhance its guest amenities,” including its welcome facilities, gardens, education spaces and food services, per the release.

Some changes highlighted included reimagined outdoor spaces, including accessible-for-all-trails, gardens and outdoor education sites. Officials added alongside those renovations, the center aims to create and upgrade facilities for its research, conservation and horticulture programs, the release noted.

The release noted those upgrades are expected to incorporate “extensive and wide-ranging additions and alterations” to the landscapes and structures currently on site at the center.

“We’re incredibly thrilled to embark on the next chapter in the Center’s remarkable journey with this exception team and to further our goals to conserve native plants and promote their use in our everyday landscapes,” said Lee Clippard, executive director of the Wildflower Center, in the release. “We look forward to welcoming more and more people into our world to experience the wonders of native plants and wildlife at our home in South Austin.”

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