Officials release more details on Dream Gardens project
Grapevine officials on Oct. 14 unveiled more details about the planned internationally themed Dream Gardens, part of The Springs at Grapevine development during a visit from Chinese officials involved in the project.
The entire Dream Gardens project will encompass 50 acres, with the 30-acre Chinese garden component becoming the largest traditional Chinese gardens outside of China and the only one combining both northern and southern architecture features, officials said. The Dream Gardens also will include a Chinese traditional theater stage, a Chinese cultural center, an amphitheater, a torii gate, a wedding garden, Suzhou gardens, a waterfall, artisan shops and restaurants. The Dream Gardens are a joint project between officials from Suzhou, the Society for Environmental and Cultural Awareness (SECA) and the International Cultural Center (ICC). The project is scheduled to open in 2013.
“It’s big,” said William D. Tate, mayor of Grapevine, at a dinner honoring the five-member delegation from Suzhou, China. “It’s Texas big, but this project would not be possible without the support of the international community.”
The Dream Gardens is tucked inside The Springs at Grapevine, which, including the 50-acre Dream Gardens, will offer 80 acres of gardens, two hotels, a Japanese inn, a river walk and entertainment venues. The Springs at Grapevine, however, is part of an even larger planned project under the moniker The World Villages of Grapevine, a $1.6 billion, 3-million-square-foot mixed-use development including not only the Springs at Grapevine, but also a one-of-a-kind indoor ski park alongside residential, hotel, retail and restaurant space.
Boming Gu, president of the Suzhou Overseas Exchange Association and deputy mayor of Suzhou, noted that Suzhou, an important trade and cultural center in central eastern China, is known as the “cradle of traditional Chinese gardens.”
“With our joint efforts I fully believe we can accomplish success,” Gu said.
The classical gardens in Suzhou were added to the list United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou, while an important cultural center in China, also has a high-technology zone with modern manufacturing and research and development projects.
SECA is a nonprofit group based in Grapevine that has a goal to “promote environmental and cultural unity through advancing and nurturing cultural exchange artistic endeavors, scientific research, and education,” according to a press release from the organization.
Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Arlington have signed on to conduct education and research programs at the gardens. On-site class work already has begun with a group from UT-Arlington focusing on new approaches to landscape architecture.
Larry Leone is leading the design of the Dream Gardens and the International Cultural Center.
Construction of The Springs will be handled by TLG3, the construction arm of The Leone Group, a family-owned design-development firm at 3650 Grapevine Mills Parkway in Grapevine.
Leone said he bought 20 acres from The Gardens of Grapevine Development LP – the development firm heading up other portions of The Villages of Grapevine project – in February.Leone said he plans to use much of the surrounding nature into the design. The 50,000-square-foot International Cultural Center, for instance will be built into an 85-foot hill feature on the property, he said.
Leone said he also is learning a lot in working with the Chinese designers.
“We’re looking to think about what the garden will look like in 200 years, that’s the kind of thinking they have,” he said.
Larry G. Brown, president of Grapevine-based Forward Group International and part of the SECA group, said The Springs at Grapevine has some financial backing now, mostly private investors, with some corporate funding for the nonprofit portion of the project.
– Additional reporting by Aleshia Howe
