Japanese Tea Garden reopening after $1.6 million renovationSan Antonio
Business Journal - by Donna J. Tuttle
After lying dormant for five years, The Japanese Tea Garden will re-open on Saturday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to noon.
The ceremony is free and open to the public. Activities include music by a Japanese middle school choir and exhibits on origami and Japanese calligraphy.
The garden has been closed and ponds empty while the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and the
San Antonio Parks Foundation completed a $1.6 million renovation that included restoring the popular 60-foot waterfall, lush gardens and the Koi pond.
"We just placed 53 Koi in last week, and we'll add more before the grand re-opening," says Teresa Keck, vice president of special events for the San Antonio Parks Foundation.
The project was a public-private venture, funded by the City of San Antonio, the Parks Foundation, and Friends of the Parks.
The park is located in Brackenridge Park near the San Antonio Zoo and was first opened in 1919. It was built using prison labor at a cost of $7,000, according to City of San Antonio history.
In 1926, at the city's invitation, Kimi Eizo Jingu, a local Japanese-American artist, moved to the garden and opened the Bamboo Room, where light lunches and tea were sold.
The Jingu family, including eight children, lived at the Tea Garden in the two-story stone house. Mabel Jingu, an 82-year-old daughter of artist Jingu, arrived in San Antonio this week and will attend the re-opening with her family. "Mabel told us that while they were growing up, the children were awakened every morning by the roar of the hungry lions," Keck says.
The garden is a designated Texas Civil Engineering Landmark, a Registered Texas Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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