FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2006

Pierce College to Celebrate Start of Botanical Garden's
Second Phase with Planting of Rare Australian Pine

College President, Consul-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, and elected officials to mark groundbreaking with Wollemi pine, thought to be extinct until recently

WHEN

Friday, December 8, 2006 9:30 a.m. Ceremony begins

 

WHAT

Ground breaking ceremony for Pierce College's new Mediterranean-inspired S. Mark Taper Botanical Garden.

 

WHERE

Botanical Garden area (located between the Life Science and Math buildings)
Pierce College 6201 Winnetka Ave. Woodland Hills, CA 91371
Parking: Enter campus on Winnetka Drive Click here to view map

 

WHO

Mr. Innes Willox, consul-general, Commonwealth of Australia for Los Angeles
The Hon. Mona Field, member of the LACCD Board of Trustees
The Hon. Nancy Pearlman, member of the LACCD Board of Trustees
Darroch "Rocky" Young, chancellor, Los Angeles Community College District
The Hon. Julia Brownley, member of the California State Assembly
Robert Garber, president, Pierce College

 

NEWS

The second phase of the S. Mark Taper Botanical Garden at Pierce College will feature an array of Mediterranean plants, including Australian and South African-native shrubs. Among these plants is an example of the Wollemi pine, (Wollemia nobilis), a rare Australian pine thought to be extinct until 1994, when it was found in a remote Australian canyon. The College's garden also includes many Southern Californian native plants, making it a sustainable garden that is drought-resistant. The entire Botanical Garden area is approximately 80,300 sq. ft.

 

BACKGROUND

Pierce College's Botanical Garden project is funded in part by the Proposition A/AA Bond Program, which is providing more than $2.2 billion for new construction and renovation projects at the LACCD's nine colleges. For more information, visit the construction program’s website at www.PropositionA.org.

 

CONTACT

Coby King cking@mww.com | Kristen Rockwell krockwell@mww.com
Phone: 213-486-6560

 

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