Rotary Gardens isn't a city park. The city provides no funds, other than a low lease cost.

Note that the Olbrich Botanical Gardens are run jointly by the City of Madison Parks Department, and the non-profit Olbrich Botanical Society.

I will never go. It's a city park. Its a park that the elite people in the city think thats important. Let them pay for it.

I agree with LaKennedy and Zoom that a charge is definately in order. It is because of people like pwrtrp that have admitted to using the gardens and not giving a little. On the other hand I think a more fair price would have been $3.00 for adults and $1.00 for children. I would guess that the people who were dropping more in would continue to do so even if there was a lesser charge. Why not try that for a year and see how that works out. I fear that many people who gave $10 and walked through with their kids will no longer be able to do that.

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Right idea but it could have been executed a little better.

Kiki wrote: Thought; One could volunteer to help at the Rotary Gardens thereby avoided the cost of admission. Win - win all the way around.

The FACT is that many people have already volunteered for YEARS believing it was to keep it free to the public for all to enjoy. Now that it's beautiful enough for Rotary to raise the money to increase salaries..

According to the 2005 annual report, total expenses were $763.961. Of that, $339.020, ALMOST ONE HALF of the entire budget, was used for payroll and benefits. Not payroll for the hundreds of VOLUNTEERS who worked hard so it can remain free to everyone, but rather payroll and benefits for the "4 full-time, 7 part-time and 6 seasonal staff" of the non-profit organization titled Rotary Botanical Gardens.
Payroll & Benefits for 2006 increased to $371,703, according to the annual report.

http://www.rotarygardens.org/images/2006......

Rotary Gardens is a non profit organization, just like the Rock County Historical Society and JPAC. These organizations get little if any funding from the city and have to raise funds to operate from day one each year. The community really needs to step up and support these cultural institutions, they enhance the quality of life in Janesville and for a city our size to have these quality resources is rare.
There will be free days, you could always volunteer, or buy a membership.
The gardens have always had a $5 suggested donation. They were never actually free if you think about it...

$78000 raised, 15600 paid visits a year figures out to be almost 43 people per day for 365 days.

Dream on......

When will this take effect? I want to take a final walk through the gardens. I have often slipped a dollar or two in the collection when I visit but $5.00 is crazy. I'll enjoy the gardens in Madison when I'm there. Maybe we should start tooting our horns as we drive by to let the elitists in the garden know what the people (the actual land owners) think of this idea.

There is going to be a fee for professional photographer's to take pictures at the gardens. Now you will see a higher sitting fee for grad's that want picture's taken there. There are other places like Beckman Mill. Wedding at the Gardens are already very pricey now the bride is going to have to pay more to have her pictures taken there too

Get real! See Olbrich Gardens

Welcome to Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Stroll through 16 acres of outdoor display gardens including Olbrich's Rose Garden and Thai Pavilion and Garden.

Enjoy a tropical paradise year-round in Olbrich's Bolz Conservatory, a glass pyramid filled with exotic plants and flowers, a rushing waterfall, fragrant orchids and birds.

Outdoor Gardens are open daily and are free to the public. Admission to the Bolz Conservatory is $1 per person and is free on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

To drive by is free!

Is this $5.00 per person?If it`s going to cost us $15.00 just to get in forget it.Like I
said earlier $1.00 is more than they are getting now .Why $5.00?

I don't mind paying a little something to get in, but at $5.oo a person it will be kind of expensive for us. I wish they would charge less for children at least.

I hope in the future there will remain at least one park that some special interest group hasn't taken over for their own good intentions.

sarasou...when i think of the money kids spend on prom and homecoming and senior pictures, i'm willing to bet an extra 5 bucks isn't going to change anybody's mind. I love the gardens and I take my family there several times a year...I got engaged there and I got married there. I've always thought a fee would be appropriate. Why does everybody always want something for free?

I wonder how it will effect highschoolers who want to get their homecoming or prom pics taken? I wonder how this will effect others who want to take senior pictures there? I wonder how this will effect elementary students coming there to learn about flowers? Five dollars is a lot of money for students to pay when they just want to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Although there was the vandalism done by teenagers and they probably ruined everything...

If they have to charge a fee, then I guess they have to. It's really no different than the paddle boats at Traxler park. I do think $5 a person is a bit steep for a quick stroll through the gardens though. It will be interesting to see how they will control the entrance.

I think they will see a significant drop in attendence at Rotary Gardens.

I don't mind having to pay, but $5.00 seems a bit high per person unless you plan on spending a good amount of time there. Most people just take a stroll through the gardens and then leave.

The old 80/20 rule applies here: 20% of the people are paying/working for the other 80% to enjoy it for free. There is an appaling lack of general financial support from the community for the gardens and now we all are paying the price. I agree however that $1 for students and $3 for adults would have been more reasonable.

What a slap in the face to the $ donors and volunteers who have already donated time and money JUST BECAUSE the gardens are free for EVERYONE to enjoy. Under false pretenses they've already done the work. How very sad..

I will never see the gardens again. $5 is to steep for a large family.

I think this is a wonderful idea. After the flooding, they can use that money to clean the gardens, build new paths, and plant new flowers. I always donated more than what they are charging for a fee now and I'm happy about that. The Gardens will always be someplace for me and my family to go and enjoy.

There will always be a compliant about something when it involves money and just be happy the tax payers aren't paying for it.

I agree with a few of the posts regarding the price! $5 that is way too much to be spending to view the gardens. Especially with the economy these days! Is there a charge for children? Didn't see that in the article.

Lakennedy....I just see a bad business move thats all. People might still go, maybe once every great while instead of regularly. All the money they make will have to be pumped into statewide marketing to keep afloat. Then you still wont have funds for the actual garden. Other businesses go under because of small price increases. Now you can either go rent a movie for a couple bucks, or go watch a plant for $5. I know im a cheap person. $5. isnt much, but you have to look at what you get for it. You can walk through the greenbelt for free, might not be as pretty, but $5. for a group of friends/family adds up.

OK so now that its going to cost $5.00 to tour the gardens (which I totally agree with) and the people around here that wont do anything thats not FREE, then what? Could we change the gardens back over maybe A Skateboard park? HMMMMMMMM Or back to A BMX Track now that its an olympic sport WE GAVE UP WAY TOO EARLY ON THAT ONE BECAUSE AS I REMEMBER IT WE HAD SOME AWESOME RACERS HERE LOCALLY!!!!!!!!!

I think they should charge the fee of 1.00/person and not 5.00 because that is one of the places I like to take my kids and I don't mind putting a 1.00/person but can't afford to pay 5.00/person being a single parent. We only go to the movies about once every 3-6 months because it costs us 40.00-50.00 to go and have popcorn, etc. Rentals on videos these days are outrageous...heaven forbid you forget to return them on time. I myself, check movies out from the library and don't own my own computer so having another place to go that didn't cost so much was definitely a bonus. We were just at Rotary Gardens last week and to tell you the truth, I was disappointed that it wasn't even as beautiful as it has been in the past. Too many annuals. Now maybe the real truth is that when they had the vandalism awhile back it really broke the gardens so that is why they want to try and charge and make up for what was lost.
Guess we won't be going anymore unless they do have a free day or something. Anyone know how much a membership fee is and is that a lifetime or a yearly membership? I'm sure it's not something I can afford.

It's just amazing that there are people that think they should be able to see that amazing display of gardens for free/are the same ones that walked past the donation containers and went in without donation at all. We have to live our lives with cheap people who just don't GET IT that these gardens cost a lot to mantain and that the city of Janesville cannot afford it. Those of us that do not mind paying the admission are the ones that always put something in the donation box anyway and will still keep going to visit the gardent. The cheap-o's are the most vocal and are the small minority anway. Our gardens will do nicely without them.

If you do not want to pay to see the garden, take a boat down to the public landing and float in and see all the flowers,simple,and go fishing if you like.

Pwrtrip,
Judging by your cheapness, I doubt anyone would want to pay to walk by your house either.

Do you even know how the new visitors center was funded? Of course you don't. Many businesses donated or reduced material and labor costs specifically for that building. It's called fundraising.

The type of people complaining about the admission price for the gardens sound like those who complain about spending $4 for a gallon of gas but will turn around and spend $4 or more for a drink at Starbucks. People seem to afford what they want to afford. Keeping up gardens costs money and it would be a shame to lose Rotary Gardens since there's not much in Janesville to do by yourself or with visitors. If places like this don't get donations there's nothing else they can do. Museums and other places that used to be free also have had to start charging admission b/c people use the facility without ever donating money.

They will have free days and you can buy a membership. The gardens were never intended to be "free" they were to be funded by donations but, people ignored the donation bins and the gardens became financially strapped. I'm all for having a fee to view the gardens.

Pwrtrip: You've proven over and over throughout your posts that you have no idea what goes into maintaining Rotary Gardens. Furthermore, you don't even go--you wouldn't be caught there, as you wrote. So my question to you is: Why do you even care? You won't be going, so you obvioulsy won't be spending the $5.00 to get in. If you are interested in finding out why Rotary Gardens needs to charge an admission fee, I suggest you hop on down there and ask them. Then come on back and post something that makes a little sense.

Charging a fee for those who visit the garden is better than grabbing tax funds from everyone, whether they visit it or not. I've never been to the Rotary Gardens, or played golf on a city course or been in the pool at Rockport Park, so the fees for those don't bother me. I have been to the Tallman House and paid for admission.
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City governments need to provide basic services out of tax funds, but more costly recreational activities should not be solely funded by taxpayers alone - they should require extra revenue from people that use those activities.
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Perhaps if we make the bike paths tollways, we can let the users fund the Milwaukee Street tunnel.

Greedy people suck eh pwrtrip? Explain your postion to the hundreds of v-o-l-u-n-t-e-e-r-s that give up t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-s of their own hours to make those gardens what they are.

Besides bn1967, what visitors are Rotary gardens afraid of losing by charging the fee? People like you who don't pay anyway? Did you pay $1 before, or are you just saying that now, now that a fee is going to be charged? Be honest...

Why dont they cut costs? Manage their funds better? They managed for how many years? Built a convention center with the donated money instead of putting it in the garden...nice. Cut a few corners here and there and they would be fine. Moneys probably needed to pay off the convention center. Why now do they need a fee? Why now? Whats different? I think they need to be more wise with their spending. Or mow the whole thing down like Janesville66 says. Anyone want to place bets on where Rotary Gardens stands financially this time next year? Didnt think so.

Mow it all down!!! Problem solved!!!

Well said, lakekennedy. You took the words right off my fingertips.

Then don't go, bn1967. Let's get one thing straight: The board of Rotary Gardens didn't wake up one day and say "Let's start charging admissions today, just to spice things up a little." They need to generate more funds, and if people who were going through the gardens would have contributed, these fees wouldn't be necessary.
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Pwrtrip: This is a non-profit agency. They aren't being greedy, just trying to survive. I agree that "greedy people suck", but the people who keep Rotary Gardens going aren't greedy. I've had family who worked there, and I've volunteered there myself. You wouldn't be caught dead there, and hope it goes belly up. Thanks for being part of the problem instead of the solution. It takes a lot of effort, doesn't it?
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I'd like to remind everyone that it isn't like this is a mandatory expenditure on your part. If you don't want to pay the $5- don't go. It's not being added onto your taxes like that ridiculous Children's Museum or Bike Tunnel. If you want to go but can't afford it, then I suggest you take advantage of free days, or become a volunteer.

How interesting that the Gazette is doing several articles on poverty and now they are raising fees at the Rotary Gardens. You also have mass layoffs in this city. Who is going to be able to afford $5!!! It would cost my family $25 to view the park. I think it's a rather large setting of admission. You most definitely will not get the poor going through the gardens or anyone that is experiencing a job loss. It's too bad that they couldn't make the price lower or just not proceed with the fee.

Too bad the city council didn't read all the comments against the $5 fee; don't they realize they are going to loose a lot of visitors with that cost? Like I said, I was willing to pay $1 per person but certainly not $5. Oh well...

I been there and never donated. People walk by my house on the sidewalk and dont donate anything. It cost money to keep up a house. You wont see me or anyone I know in Rotary Gardens thats for sure. I kinda hope it goes belly up. Greedy people suck...and unfortunately Janesville has a lot of them.

I suggest people read the article about the free days, memberships and all the ways they are going out of their way to still make the garden available to the public and families before the posts condemn the gardens for staying off the tax levy.