Thai Pavilion to be located at Olbrich

The university, Madison officials and a committee of the Olbrich Botanical Gardens Society board of directors have reached a tentative agreement to locate a Thai Pavilion at the gardens on Madison’s East Side.

The proposal is still subject to approval by the full membership of the Olbrich board, the Madison Board of Park Commissioners and the Madison City Council.

The proposed site will be discussed during a public meeting on the proposed master plan for the Olbrich Garden expansion. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the garden, 3330 Atwood Ave.

“We welcome this wonderful addition to Olbrich Botanical Gardens,” says Nancy Ragland, Botanical Center director. “The unique nature of the Thai Pavilion will focus both national and international attention on the gardens.”

A gift to UW–Madison from the Thai government and the university’s Thai Alumni Association, the pavilion is proposed to be built across Starkweather Creek and connected by a bridge to the gardens, according to the proposal.

The university is committing more than $2.6 million to the project, including $1.2 million for an endowment to fund positions to provide curatorial/interpretive services at the pavilion; $500,000 for an endowment to cover future maintenance costs; and $918,000 to cover the costs of transporting the pavilion from Thailand, construction of the structure’s foundation and the building of an ornamental bridge across Starkweather Creek.

The city will apply revenue generated from fees for weddings, receptions, cultural events and tours at the pavilion to fund costs for general maintenance. UW–Madison students and alumni will help provide programming at the facility.

Chancellor David Ward says the agreement, if approved, will represent a unique educational, cultural and business partnership between Thailand, the university, the city and the garden.

“There is a long-standing relationship between the Thai people and UW–Madison,” Ward says. “The gift of the pavilion signifies the generosity and loyalty of Thai alumni and their fond feelings for Madison.”

UW–Madison has graduated more than 700 Thai residents dating back to 1917, and the university has the largest number of Thai students of any U.S. college or university. The most recent figures show that 165 Thai students were enrolled last fall.

The pavilion could establish a strong educational link between Olbrich and the university for students studying Asian culture, landscape architecture and other topics, Ward adds.

Madison Mayor Susan J.M. Bauman says the pavilion will showcase Olbrich as a national educational and cultural resource and destination. It will also help strengthen the city’s relationship with its growing Thai and Southeast Asian populations, she says.

“I am personally very excited about this opportunity to have such a fabulous facility located here in Madison,” says Bauman. “The fact that it comes as no expense to the taxpayers of Madison makes this all the more appealing, of course.”

The pavilion could even draw visitors from around the world, Bauman says. It will be only the third such structure to be located outside Thailand, and the only one in the United States. The other two are in Germany and Norway.

The announcement comes just prior to Chancellor Ward’s trip to Thailand, scheduled for mid-November. Ward says the proposal will enliven a planned East Asian alumni reunion event and lay the groundwork for a possible trade mission in the future.

He stresses that the pavilion gift was in part built on the successful educational and cultural exchanges developed during the 1999 trade and educational mission to Thailand led by himself and Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Olbrich was proposed as the location for the Thai Pavilion because of its unique garden setting and the opportunity to link with the garden’s educational and cultural programs. The details of the tentative agreement were worked out in several meetings between university, city and garden staff.

Known as a “sala” in Thailand, the structure will be 40 feet long, 22 feet wide and 30 feet high. Highly ornate, the pavilion will include a high lacquer finish, gold leaf etchings and will be adorned by the royal seal of the Thai Crown. Thai craftspeople will assemble the pavilion here in Madison.

The Crown Princess of Thailand is expected to visit Madison to dedicate the pavilion in the late summer of 2001, Ward says.