Devonian Gardens to close for repairs to faulty planter beds

Devonian Gardens will be closed for the next several months while crews repair faulty planter beds that were installed as part of a multimillion-dollar facelift four years ago.

The downtown indoor botanical park will close on July 18 and reopen by the end of the year, the city said in a release on Wednesday.

"We have some warranty issues in our planter beds," said Doug Marter, manager of capital development for Calgary Parks.

"We have opted for a full closure to allow us to work more quickly and nimbly rather than a longer partial closure through the winter."

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The Core shopping centre, in which the park occupies the fourth floor, is also in need of maintenance work, Marter said.

Devonian Gardens was built in 1977. In 2008, the park was closed for an exhaustive, $37-million renovation.

It reopened in 2012, butproblems with leaky planters were soon identified.

The repair work is being conducted under warranty, the city says.

All current bookings in the park will be honoured, since there is no work planned on the east side where private events are held.

The gardens feature a living wall, Koi fish ponds, a children's play area, meeting rooms and function spaces, and over 550 trees of 18 different species.

Trees that need to be moved will be replanted and stored on-site, and the fish ponds will be undisturbed.

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