Conservatory of Flowers - San Francisco, California - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

This beautiful wooden-framed glass paneled greenhouse is 240ft long and has a central dome almost 60 ft tall. This space allows it to have one of the preeminent collections of tropical plants, including such specimans as an Amorphophallus titanum, the largest flower in the world (unfortunately also known as corpse flower for its stench when it blooms) and the most comprehensive public collection of highland orchid species in the world.

Excerpts from the wiki:

"The material for the conservatory was purchased by James Lick prior to his death in 1876. Lick died before constructing the conservatory on his estate, and it was put up for sale by his trustees. The material was then purchased by a group of prominent San Franciscans who offered it to the City of San Francisco for use in Golden Gate Park. The Parks Commission accepted the gift and hired Lord & Burnham, a greenhouse manufacturing company from New York, to supervise the erection of the structure. Once open, it contained a large variety of rare and tropical plants, including a giant water lily, Victoria Regia, which at the time was the only known specimen in the United States."

"During the winter of 1995-96, a series of large storms exacerbated the ongoing deterioration of the wood structure. In 1998, the Conservatory was placed on a list of the 100 most endangered world monuments by the World Monuments Fund. Also in 1998, the National Trust for Historic Preservation adopted the Conservatory into its Save America's Treasures program, launched as part of First Lady Hillary Clinton's Millennium Council projects. The publicity from these efforts eventually led to a fundraising campaign to raise the twenty-five million dollars needed for rehabilitation, restoration, and stabilization of the Conservatory. The construction lasted from 1999 until 2003. On September 20, 2003, the restored Conservatory was once again opened to the public."

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