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Date: Thursday, May 21, 2020 
Contact: Missouri Botanical Garden Public Relations Dept.  
Phone: (314) 577-0286 (media use only)  
Email: cmartin@mobot.org (media use only)  

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN TO REOPEN JUNE 16 

Additional safety and social distancing protocols to be followed 

For Immediate Release 

The Missouri Botanical Garden plans to reopen to the public on June 16. To continue efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Garden will implement additional health and safety protocols. The safety of the visitors, volunteers and staff is our top priority. 

"We are delighted that we will soon be able to welcome visitors back to the Missouri Botanical Garden,” Garden President Peter Wyse Jackson said. “The Garden recognizes the importance of public gardens and outdoor spaces as indispensable to community healing. We are eager to once again have visitors strolling Garden grounds as they take in the fresh air and enjoy the rich diversity of the Garden’s plant collections and displays.” 

To ensure the safety of all, the Garden will implement new procedures, including limiting capacity. All visitors to the Garden, including Garden members and ZMD residents, will need advanced dated and timed e-tickets. Tickets will be available in 60-minute time slots online and by phone only. No walk-up or day-of on-site purchases. Tickets will be available one week prior to opening at mobot.org. 

Garden hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday. The Garden is closed Mondays until further notice. 

As part of our enhanced safety protocols, visitors will enter and exit Garden grounds through separate one-way paths to allow for safe proper social distancing. Indoor spaces including the Climatron and all conservatories, the Sachs Museum, and Tower Grove House will remain closed. The Children’s Garden and water play areas will be closed as well. There will be increased frequency of cleaning and disinfecting throughout the Garden. 

Protective face coverings will be required for all guests nine years of age or older, in accordance with St. Louis City’s public health guidelines. 

The Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit will also open June 16. Like the Garden, the Nature Reserve will implement additional protocols, including requiring e-tickets purchased in advance and limiting capacity. The Butterfly House, a Garden site located in Chesterfield, is working closely with St. Louis County officials to develop a plan to safely reopen to visitors soon. 

More specific details will be shared closer to the reopening. 

Until the reopening, you can continue to enjoy the beauty of the Garden, virtually, through photos and videos on the Garden’s social media pages. You can find all of the Garden's virtual content on this landing page. 

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in south St. Louis, accessible from Interstate 44 at the Vandeventer exit and from Interstate 64 at the Kingshighway North and South exit. Free parking is available on site and two blocks west at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer. 

Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden is a 2,400-acre natural area located just south of Interstate-44 at exit #253 in Gray Summit.  

The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House of the Missouri Botanical Garden is located in St. Louis County’s Faust Park at 15193 Olive Blvd. in Chesterfield. 

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The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.” Today, 161 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display.