The City of Albuquerque has issued a Request for Proposals for a renovation and upgrade project at the always-busy Albuquerque BioPark.
Opened in the fall of 2001, the Children’s Fantasy Garden is a place of nine-foot-tall potted plants, a walk-through pumpkin two stories high and 42 feet in diameter, six-foot long earthworms pushing through the walls, and other unforgettable features designed to explore the wonders of nature.
The Fantasy Garden has proved a solid hit with visitors, a review on the site Tripadviser.com being fairly typical: the garden is “particularly noteworthy, even a castle with a stone dragon. Goofy oversized vegetables on some paths. Pretty fun excursion!”
The Rotarian magazine has extolled the garden’s “earthworms as thick as a human arm, basketball-sized acorns, and ants and beetles larger than many of the park’s young visitors.”
The City is now looking for an architectural consultant to “renovate and update the experience of the Children’s Fantasy Garden.”
According to the RFP, architectural firms applying for the work should have previous design experience that includes the “design of theme parks, amusement parks, and family-oriented projects.”
Work on what started out as a $735,000 fantasy garden began in the spring of 1998, with the project cost increasing to $1.5 million upon its opening six years later.
The submission deadline for the RFP is June 26.
By Garry Boulard