For Immediate Release

 

Contact:

Michael Hoke, Managing Director

409.670.9113

 

 

ORANGE, Texas, June 25, 2009 – Shangri La will celebrate Independence Day with free watermelon and a free patriotic concert for the public on Saturday, July 4.

 

Shangri La will observe its normal Saturday operating hours on Independence Day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with regular admission to the Gardens and Nature Center ending at 6 p.m. Standard admission rates will apply throughout the day until 6 p.m. for admission to the gardens and nature center of Shangri La.

 

Visitors who purchase admission to Shangri La prior to 6 p.m. are welcome to remain onsite to enjoy patriotic music, which will be presented by the Orange Community Band beginning at 7 p.m. Those who wish to attend only the patriotic concert will be admitted to the Shangri La Orientation Center area without charge beginning at 6:30 p.m. The musical concert begins at 7 p.m., and visitors are welcome to bring folding lawn chairs.

 

Throughout the day, guests may enjoy a stroll through the gardens as well as a boat trip through the cypress/tupelo swamp, which will be offered every hour. The Shangri La staff will serve complimentary watermelon at the Orientation Center from 2-3 p.m., while supplies last.

 

Food and drinks (with the exception of bottled water) are prohibited from being brought onto the grounds of Shangri La. Both the Star and Crescent Moon Café and the Garden Store will be open throughout the day for the dining and shopping convenience of all visitors. 

 

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 call 409.670.9113.

 

  

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.

 

Amid nature’s pristine ecosystems, the formal gardens at Shangri La reflect a use of more than 300 plant species to paint beautiful landscapes among a series of theme-based garden rooms. Around every corner a new vista awaits the visitor with exquisite sculptures, a great lawn, serene waterscapes reflecting beautiful colors and a Cypress Gate framing blooming plants and soaring birds. 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 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 was also named by the American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment as one of the top 10 green projects throughout the world.

 

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.

 

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

 

###