Andrew Merriell & Associates Interpretive Planning & Design


	Shangri La Botanical Garden and Nature Center 2005 Orange, TX Starting in 1942, philanthropist H.J. Lutcher Stark created a spectacular azalea garden in Orange, Texas. He named it Shangri-La, after the mythical place of peace, beauty, and immortality of James Hilton's Lost Horizon. For the better part of ten years, thousands of visitors came to see it. Then disaster struck: a freeze so uncommon and severe that it killed off most of the plantings he had so carefully created. With the garden in ruins, the gates to Shangri-La were closed. Since then, nature has reclaimed Shangri La's 250 acres. Birds found the lake and its dead cypress stands a perfect location for nesting and raising their young. Now it has come under the wing of another visionary, a super-teacher who is using the property for one of the nation's most innovative environmental education programs. This new life has inspired the property's owners, the charitable Stark Foundation, to rebuild and replant the garden, clean up the lake, and reopen the gates to state of the art educational facilities. Andrew Merriell & Associates is developing the interpretive story and designing exhibits for the botanical garden, nature center, and visitor orientation center.
Biography + Client List + Design Projects + Planning Projects + Contact + Home Text and Images - Copyright © 2005 - Andrew Merriell & Associates Interpretive Planning & Design