Shangri La Receives Flooding, Minimal Structural Damage from Hurricane Ike,

September 16, 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact: Danny DiGiacomo
Imaginuity Creative
214.572.3900
daniel.digiacomo@imaginuity.com

ORANGE, Texas, September 16, 2008 – Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center survived Hurricane Ike with what appears to be minimal structural damage. Although its buildings remain intact, Shangri La did experience considerable flooding throughout the gardens, nature center, outpost and bayou areas, which resulted in water intrusion to various structures.

A full assessment has not yet been completed; it will nevertheless take a good deal of time and effort to restore Shangri La to its pre-hurricane condition, as a result of the damage to structures and landscape from the water and wind.

Shangri La staff members had fully implemented Shangri La's hurricane plan well in advance of the storm’s landfall and had taken steps to protect the facility to the greatest extent possible. Essential employees of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, which owns and operates Shangri La, remained in the City of Orange where Shangri La is located at all times during the hurricane to monitor conditions.

Because of the extensive damage throughout the City of Orange and the lack of city services as a result of Hurricane Ike, all events that were previously slated to be held at Shangri La and sponsored by Shangri La will be canceled until further notice, including the Beat the Heat lecture series and the upcoming Fall Festival.

In addition, Shangri La will remain closed to the public until such time as city services resume, power is restored and recovery and restoration efforts are completed throughout Shangri La. This includes cancellation of all group tours and school field trips scheduled for the months of September and October, with scheduling for subsequent months to be determined as additional information becomes available.

Stark Foundation and Shangri La staff will work diligently toward the restoration and re-opening of Shangri La, and the staff will endeavor to return to normal operations as quickly as possible. Resumption of operations will depend entirely on the ultimate assessment of damages and subsequent recovery efforts, which remain to be determined.

For updates and further information, visit the Shangri La website at www.shangrilagardens.org.

About Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center

Nestled within 252 acres in the heart of Orange, Texas, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is a program of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, a private foundation whose mission is to improve and enrich the quality of life in Southeast Texas and encourage and assist education. The unique ecosystem of Shangri La presents an ideal opportunity to further that mission as well as carry on the vision of H.J Lutcher Stark, the man who originally developed the gardens more than 60 years ago.

The formal Botanical Gardens contain more than 300 plant species in five formal "rooms” as well as four sculpture “rooms” plus thousands of nesting birds in Ruby Lake. The Nature Center includes Adams Bayou boat excursions to educational outposts, a 15-acre Beaver Pond, a state-of-the-art bird blind, a bat house, and more up-close encounters with nature.

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the first project in Texas and the 50^th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum Certification for LEED^®-NC, which verifies that the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures. Shangri La offers a glimpse of how people can live in harmony with nature, as it strives in its mission to Mentor Children of All Ages to Be Kind to Their World.

Shangri La is located at 2111 West Park Avenue, Orange, Texas.