For Immediate Release

 

Contact:

Michael Hoke, Managing Director

409.670.9113

  

ORANGE, Texas, May 12, 2009 – On Friday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m., Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center welcomed its 50,000th visitor, Caroline Guerina of Port Arthur, Texas.

 

Friday marked Guerina’s first visit to Shangri La. She enjoyed the gardens with her baby, Joshua Braden, who is the 2009 New Year’s Baby for Port Arthur. She also attended with her parents, Lucila and José Regaspi, who are visiting from the Philippines. Shangri La welcomed Guerina with free admission, a free Shangri La membership, lunch at the Star and Crescent Moon Café located on the grounds of Shangri La, and a gift basket containing items from the Garden Store as well as other Shangri La memorabilia.

 

Shangri La is proud to have achieved this important milestone in only seven months of operation. Shangri La originally opened in March 2008 but closed in September 2008 after incurring damages from Hurricane Ike. It reopened to the public once again in March 2009.

 

Since its initial reopening in March 2008, Shangri La has welcomed visitors from every state in the United States and more than 20 foreign countries. Visitors have arrived from more than 280 cities in Texas, with the majority visiting from the Beaumont and Houston area. A significant number of guests also hail from southwestern Louisiana. Group tours from areas including Houston, Baton Rouge and North Louisiana also make up a large percentage of Shangri La visitors.

 

Michael Hoke, Managing Director of Shangri La, says visitor response to the gardens and nature center has been outstanding, with many Orange natives stating they cannot believe something so beautiful can be found in their hometown. “One would have to drive a significant distance to find a botanical garden as beautiful and well designed as Shangri La. Shangri La’s Nature Center and Outpost Tour are unique among nature experiences in all of Texas, and very few nature venues of this quality are found anywhere in the world,” said Hoke.

 

In addition to welcoming its 50,000th visitor, Shangri La reached another milestone by welcoming its 1000th member. With the original goal of selling 1000 memberships in one year being met in just seven months of operation, the Shangri La staff looks forward to gaining 1200 members by the end of 2009.

 

 

The outstanding popularity of Shangri La also means rousing success for area students, since funds from ticket sales and the Garden Store are used to support Shangri La’s educational programs. Shangri La, with support from the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, currently provides free admission and bus transportation for Orange County students to attend programs at Shangri La. Schools outside of Orange County also receive free admission. Current projections indicate that more than 20,000 school children per year will directly benefit from programs at Shangri La in the future. 

 

Shangri La is located at 2111 West Park Avenue, Orange, Texas. The Shangri La Visitor Parking area, located across West Park Ave. from Shangri La, will be open and available to Shangri La visitors free of charge. A restricted access parking lot for vehicles with proper handicap designation is located just inside the vehicular entrance gate of Shangri La.

 

For more information, including admission and tour details, please visit www.shangrilagardens.org or contact Michael Hoke, 409.670.9113.

Shangri La Managing Director Michael Hoke welcomes the botanical gardens and

nature center’s 50,000th member, Caroline Guerina, her son Joshua Braden, and her

parents Lucila and José Regaspi.

 

 

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 was named one of the world’s top 10 green projects by the American Institute of Architects and was also the first project in Texas and the 50th 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.

 

Additional programs of the Stark Foundation are the Stark Museum of Art, The W.H. Stark House and the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts.

 

 

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