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Wrigley
Memorial & Botanical Garden
Located at the top of Avalon Canyon Road, the Wrigley Memorial and
Botanical Garden is an attraction that shouldn’t be missed.
It houses some of the most beautiful plants in California, and the
short walk up to the Memorial is well worth the commanding views.
The
Wrigley Memorial honors the memory of William Wrigley Jr., who lived
from 1861 to 1932. With its commanding view of Avalon Bay, the Wrigley
Memorial is the centerpiece of the Botanical Garden. It was built
in 1933-34 with the goal of using as much Catalina materials as
possible. Quarried Catalina stones can be seen in the reinforced
concrete construction -- the facade having been sandblasted to hide
the cement and highlight the native crushed stones.
The
blue flagstone rock on the ramps and terraces comes from Little
Harbor, on Catalina’s “back” side. And the red
roof tiles and all the colorful handmade glazed tiles used for finishings
came from the Catalina Pottery plant, which was in operation from
1927 to 1937. The marble inside the tower was quarried in Georgia.
The
idea for a garden came from Mr. Wrigley’s wife, Ada. In 1935,
she supervised Pasadena horticulturalist Albert Conrad, who planted
the original Desert Plant Collection. Santa Catalina Island’s
temperate marine climate made it possible to showcase plants from
every corner of the earth.
In
1969, the Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation expanded and revitalized
the garden’s 37.85 acres. Along with the new plantings came
a new attitude. In the same way that the Wrigley Memorial uses primarily
native building materials, the Garden places a special emphasis
on California island endemic plants. (Plants, which grow naturally
on one or more of the California islands, but nowhere else in the
world.) Many of these plants are extremely rare, and some are on
the Endangered Species list.
In
1996, the Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation merged with the Catalina
Island Conservancy. This was a natural combining of two important
ecological organizations, both dedicated to the protection and restoration
of Santa Catalina Island.
The
Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden is open daily from 8:00am
to 5:00pm, year round. Adult admission is $3, children under 12
are free. It is located one and one-half miles up Avalon Canyon
Road. The walk is pleasant, passing the Golf Course, the town’s
ballpark, and the Hermit Gulch campground. Public transportation
is also available.
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