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The Dawes Arboretum was founded in 1929 by Beman and Bertie Dawes after
the success of their business Pure Oil Company allowed them to establish
an endowment of $225,000. This endowment was to be used to share their
love of trees with the public by establishing an arboretum on their 140
acres of land on which they lived. Seventy-one years later the endowment
has grown to over $61,000,000 and the arboretum itself is now 1,149 acres
containing over 15,000 different species of plants.
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A typical view of the Dawes Arboretum in late September
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| Just as the arboretum has changed in size over the years,
so has the focus of Dawes being a standardized arboretum where plant material
is collected and displayed with little regard to overall aesthetics. Presently,
the focus of Dawes will continue to be a standardized arboretum but with
the future goal of turning a portion of the main grounds into a botanic
garden allowing for a more aesthetically pleasing landscape. Another main
focus of the arboretum presently taking place is the acquiring of surrounding
land to achieve a green space between the arboretum and the coming urban
sprawl. While the arboretum continues to grow in size so does the cost to
operate. Presently, the $61,000,000 endowment covers 96% of the arboretum's
cost, which means 4% needs to be generated elsewhere. |
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Luke Messinger
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According to the director Luke Messinger, the arboretum will
seek corporate involvement which in the past was carefully avoided. Along
with corporate involvement, a more aggressive program is to be instituted
to increase the membership at Dawes. This in turn will hopefully lead to
increased contributors to the arboretum. To accomplish the goals of raising
the revenue needed to cover the costs not covered by the endowment, the
arboretum will establish a development office. As stated by Mr. Messinger,
the interest in public gardens will continue to grow substantially over
the next twenty years and with this growing interest comes the opportunity
for workers with specialized skills such as a development officer needed
by Dawes. I believe the best insight about public gardens Mr. Messinger
gave the class was that future employees of public gardens will need to
have much more than horticultural skills in order to compete for a job.
Having business, education, or communication skills will greatly enhance
the chances of being hired or promoted. A good example of this is Mr. Messinger
himself. A graduate of Ohio State's Landscape Horticulture and Journalism
programs, Mr. Messenger positioned himself to be hired and thus promoted
to his present position at Dawes Arboretum. |
| While much has changed since Beman and Bertie Dawes set up
the endowment in 1929. It seems that things will evolve at a much faster
rate at Dawes Arboretum in the new century. Purchasing surrounding land
due to urban sprawl, increasing cost, and corporate sponsorship are some
of the problems the Dawes Arboretum will have to overcome and learn to deal
with in the twenty-first century. But with the amount of visitors increasing
each year to the arboretum, over 300,000 in 1999, and with future improvements
such as the proposed botanic garden or the creation of a development office,
it looks as if the Dawes Arboretum is moving successfully into the new millennium.
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