The BMX track comments are laughable. I can't think of a more limited use for the land than that. At least a skate park would serve more children (skateboards, in-line, bikes). Too bad it can't get funded by donations alone...which the Rotary Gardens has managed to do for all these years, up to this point

Many people have volunteered hours and donated money JUST BECAUSE the gardens are free for everyone to enjoy. The satisfaction came from building something beautiful that ALL would be able to experience. It appears the free labor was deceived until the work was done. How very sad....

I 2nd mowing it all down and putting the BMX track back up. Kids would like it better than a museum. 2 birds with one stone here.

The suggested prices are too much! Perhaps $1 per adult or $5 per family could be considered....but where are the marketing people? They could do a better job of promoting memberships. They could have better signage asking for donations with "suggested" amounts displayed, and volunteers at the entrance to "collect" donations during the busiest times all summer and fall. They could charge for the fall festival and better use all the area talent to perform at no cost with a gift membership given instead. How about a little creativity instead of such a steep price?

Thomas Moore
The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don't want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don't have a soul.

misworded that last part... meant to say again, if it's for everyone, let it be for everyone... I ask you, if the gardens is so financially "strapped", then why is it that you see the owner and the committee driving around in new vehicles every year??

it used to be a bmx track years ago... no one asked for the gardens to be there... it wasn't appealing enough for the city... does anyone REALLY know WHY the gardens were put there in the first place?? there's talk of having another skate/bike park... why did they take the one Janesville had originally and do this to it?? now they want money for it because they're financially falling short?? it took away a great place for the kids to have fun and be competative in a sportful manner.... people do complain about the cost of cigarettes or bottled water, yet, there are people out there that remarkably don't smoke or and drink city water.... why pay for the gardens when it was the CITY that wanted them there to begin with... the CITY wanted to keep the gardens free, and now, the gardening committee wants to charge admission because they overcharge on memorial bricks and knick knacks in their gift shop... why put a monotary value on something that is of nature?? yes, there's a lot of work that went into everything, yet, they have volunteers.... that's saving them money right there.... again, I ask, if the garden's for everyone, let it be for everyone...

Mow it all down. Turn it back into a BMX track for the kids...Who asked for the gardens any way?

xtra- or a pack of smokes!!!!

How much rent does the gardens pay the city per year?

Would it be worth while for the city to not collect the rent for a year so that those funds may be put into the gardens? Kinda a gift from us the city to the gardens for all they have done for us.

I would gladly pay a $5.00 fee. I think people are over reacting here. I wonder how many of those that have complained about this fee will buy bottled water today? hmmmmm

Who gets the money from the bricks that people pay for to put names on? I was just wondering. I do not go to the gardens offend but wanted to put a brick in memory of my Mom but it was really pricey and could not afford it.

I'd be more willing to pay for a yearly membership to get a "free" admission card, than to spend $5 at the front gate each time I went.
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That aside, I think $5 might be a little steep. Would it make sense to have a less expensive admission price for city residents? Maybe $3 instead of $5 for an adult?

Zoom-

WOW is right,that is great, I should have done the research but I was at work with the last post. Like I said though I support a fee, and $5 per adult does not seem prohibitive to me. as long as it stays off of my taxes, us that use the gardens should pay for it not taxpayers.

it used to be one of the best areas for fishing... then the city turned it into a community garden... I don't hear anyone complaining about palmer park or riverside park and the amount of water used every summer when the pools are being heavily used... now a small organization wants to make a profit on a garden that used to be free... it's not worth the expense... they are constantly purchasing plants to change the garden's appearance on an annual basis... what happened to roses in the rose garden?? how many years has it been since anyone's seen that?? put in the popular basics and leave it alone....

The Rotary Gardens are all right but I don't think it's worth anywhere near 5 dollars per adult. We don't go often, usually for the Halloween or Xmas lights, for which I'd pay. Just for general admission to look a mediocre garden around a dirty pond?...count us out.

I'm really not from around here so I've seen some fantastic gardens...most of them free, some not. If the garden can't make ends meet, even with the very large number of volunteers, maybe it's a sign that it is not such a wise idea to continue.

pwtrip- again with your comments you know nothing about. yes if you neglect a garden it will be overgrown with DEADHEADS, WEEDS, they need maintance. my garden isnt very big but i take TRAILER fulls of crap out of my gardens all the time. and tree need trimming etc.

Yes, Rocky. You just made an excellent point as to why the Gardens needs to charge a fee, the economic downturn in the area has had its impact on Rotary Gardens, too. While illustrating this point, you've also managed to show how supportive you are of the gardens. Not really at all. How about you and your family take a proactive approach and volunteer at the gardens? Then you'd be in for free and helping out a beautiful cause.

Rotary Gardens is not a park. It is a non-profit operating its facility on land leased from the city. It is NOT comparable to Palmer Park or Riverside Park, despite certain ignorant claims below. The maintenance is not performed by the city.]
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It makes me sad that there's no other way, but if charging admission means they can continue upkeep of the Gardens, then by all means do so.

I find it funny that it costs a lot of money to keep a garden growing, but if no one did anything it would be over grown.

Charge what you have to to keep the gardens running. If they continue to come up short on money then there will be no Rotary Gardens.

biggirl- read it says they will host many free days each season. the person that collects the money will prob also be a volunteer.
I also agree with somebodies comment how many buy DAILY pack of smokes, starbucks and it is gone within 10 minutes.

Let's put this in context. We have a community that is experiencing a major economic downturn. That, combined with inflationary pressures from fuel and food prices has drastically reduced the amount of disposable income for most Janesville families. I understand that it takes money to keep the gardens looking so nice, but in an economy like this, something like a $5/adult fee is enough to keep people away in droves.

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My family goes a couple times a year to visit the gardens and they are very nice, but at $18 per visit, I can honestly say that we'd avoid it. We usually drop a fiver in the bucket each time - but they'd lose that income as well.

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Keep the gardens free.

It would be interesting to know how much money it will cost to charge a fee. Will they have to have more paid staff? I'm for no fee, and five bucks is prohibitive for many people. I'm surprised no one is even discussing the need for an no-fee day, as museums and other places have.

i agree it is okay to charge admission. it takes alot of $ to keep a garden going.

quintin66,
According to the 2006 annual report, they had only 4 full-time, 7 part-time and 6 seasonal
staff. Everything else is done by volunteers. In 2006, there were 336 active volunteers, with 238 of those being regular volunteers. The volunteers worked an average of 1,893 total hours per month. Wow.

Although I do not oppose a fee, maybe they could try having people in the community volunteer to do the labor. not only would it help rotary gardens it would help the community as a whole

Zoom -- everyone knows the "people" have no say in government. Sannio --"Janesville - The city of pay per use parks." --HA! Exactly, what next? Where does it end?
Twerp13-- I couldnt agree with your posts more. :)

I don't object to a fee...but $5 is nuts. Why don't they try less first? It's the same with their Christmas lights show... a fee is fine, but the high price you charge just keeps people away. You can make the same amount of money with higher volume at lower fees vs. fewer at a higher fee. $5 is not a fee a lot of the "community" can pay if they have families.

Having a free garden is what this city needs to attract tourisium. I know of many people who feel they can come here see beatuiful gardens for free, then be able to afford to eat, shop and visit other sites of interest in our community. If we start charging for the gardens, we may not get that tourism.

really- link to fees

http://www.rotarygardens.org/rental.htm

Here is the annual reports for 2005 and 2006 for the gardens. What they took in, what they spent that on:

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

Posted this on the other blog, thought I would here too for those that don't check out both blogs.
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I like the gardens, but I do have a problem with this fee. This is a private club/organization that is asking the general public to fund their business that happens to be located on city (tax payer owned) property.
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Their organization need to either charge more for their rental events, do more fundraising events, or just cut back. I believe they could also get grants.
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On a side note I would like to know how many paid jobs they do have, and what the adminisrtator gets paid. Many times cutting from the top achieves more than cutting from the bottom or in this case creating fees that would be a possible hinderance to the general local users of the gardens. Perhaps the Rotary club could spare some of their business members and get them to donate time to take on more fundraising , donation seeking oppertuinties.

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Besides would charging a fee actual lose money for the gardens? I know many people donate when they can when they stop by, but wouldn't even go if a actual fee is imposed. So in affect less people would actualy use the gardens and thus less money would be generated.
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Just asking if other possiblities are available that would work? Like I said I like visiting the gardens,some times just at the spur of the moment (I may not even have cash on me at the time) but not sure I would be able to at the spur of the moment if I was charged a fee.

Does anyone know if Rotary Gardens has ever collected any of the restitution from the vandalism done to it a few years back?

And next year the friends of Riverside will ask to charge a fee. In 2010 the friends of Palmer park will ask to charge a fee.
Janesville - The city of pay per use parks.
If you gotta charge a fee, you're getting over your head. If you want to charge a fee, buy some land.

If they charge an admission, they will have to funnel visitors through a common entrance. They should have done that a long time ago (with a turnstyle), just to track how many visitors they have.

I doubt they can really track or do it real accurately anyways. They just have a box to put donations in. We usually give at least $5 when we visit a few times a year.
I wonder if there is there some kind of fundraising they can do annually? (If they don't already do so)
How much does it cost to have a wedding ceremony there? Could they charge more that way?

Though I'd love to have free admission, you have to keep in mind that they aren't charging admission to get rich, just to make ends meet. Unfortunately, money is always the bottom line and without it, Rotary Gardens couldn't keep going.

I would guess that many visitors already give a few dollars at each visit. It would be interesting to know if the Gardens has data on how much gets donated per visitor. Do they even have a way to track how many people visit the gardens?

Pwrtrip said: "Since we the tax payers of Janesville own that property, I think the people should have a say in it."

Did you even read the article? We do have a say, through our city government. The City Manager has to approve the admission fee, and is derferring the decision to the Council. Mr. Sheiffer also wants to hold a public hearing. What more do you want?

I don't get there as much as I'd like now. If they start charging, I'm even less likely to go. Sure a free day here & there is nice but keeping track of that & fitting it into my schedule just isn't likely.

How else do you suggest they pay for the Gardens? Raise taxes? That'll go over well. They will offer free admission days so many times throughout the year as a way to ensure that everyone has the chance to see the Gardens. What else could they possibly do?

Palmer park pool is free. They going to start charging for that too now? Pretty soon we'll have toll booths at all the intersections for using "their" traffic lights. Since we the tax payers of Janesville own that property, I think the people should have a say in it. I might ask the council if I can set up a toll booth on my sidewalk. Sweeping the grass off after I mow is just killing my budget.