Inside a growing Louisville attraction

Louisville's Waterfront Botanical Garden is growing.Yeah, that's a pun — but it's also a true statement, considering the massive expansion project taking place there. This week Philip Koester, CEO at Waterfront Botanical Gardens, joins LBF's Access Louisville podcast to tells us about everything happening place there. Waterfront Botanical Gardens, 1435 Frankfort Avenue, is an urban botanical garden just east of Downtown Louisville, built on the site of a former landfill that was closed in the 1970s. The project opened to the public in October 2019.The first phase of a four-phase masterplan has been completed, representing the development of approximately five acres of the 23-acre site. Phase 2 will include the addition of the Bonsai House and Display Gardens, an approximately $8 million project. The garden already has about 50 trees in its collection. "Over the next several years we plan to have a total of 150 bonsai trees," Koester says on the show. One of the trees — found at the top of a mountain in Wyoming — is estimated to be 1,100 years old."That tree is gonna be the centerpiece of the fifth outdoor room [in the bonsai house exhibit]," he said. The five rooms will each hone in on one of the elements of Japanese Buddisst philosophy— fire, water, wind, earth and void (space)."It's going to be a huge selling point, a huge curiosity," he said. You can hear more from Koester in the interview, which is available in the player above. Waterfront Botanical Gardens had 2024 revenue of $7.4 million, up from $5 million the year prior, according to federal tax filings. It had net assets approaching $25 million. It welcomed 64,000 visitors last year.Waterfront Botanical Gardens is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10.Access Louisville, sponsored by Baird, is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson. Three local chefs are coming on: Noam Bilitzer, of MeeshMeesh, Anne Shadle of Mayan Cafe and Lawrence Weeks of Murray’s Creole Pub. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.