Queens Botanical Garden's new education center, with a green roof and teaching kitchen, is on track for fall 2027

The biggest construction project in years at Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing is moving toward a 2027 opening. Garden staff and elected officials took a hard-hat tour Monday of the site of the Joan N. and Norman Bluestone Education Center, which is slated to be finished in fall 2027, QNS reported.

The city broke ground on the building in June 2025, when the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Design and Construction put its cost at $34 million and said it would be fully funded and built by the city, according to the city's announcement. QNS described it as an over-$30 million project paid for primarily by the city, with Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. contributing $4 million and support from private donors, including the Bluestone Foundation.

What's inside

The 14,500-square-foot building, designed by BKSK Architects, replaces a smaller education space. Plans include:

• four classrooms for school groups, two of which can combine into one large space for events;
• a full teaching kitchen for adult classes and a teaching solarium where educators can grow plants;
• offices, meeting rooms and a gallery, plus a covered outdoor gathering space;
• a flexible lawn near the main entrance and a Kids' Culture and Discovery Garden, QNS reported.

Built to handle Flushing's water

The building is aiming for LEED Platinum, the top green-building rating, with a living green roof and solar panels. A bioswale planted with water-tolerant species will send stormwater into detention tanks under the site, which BKSK's project manager told QNS will take the burden of the project's runoff off the city storm system. Flushing has a high water table and a history of flooding; Richards pointed to the damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Artist William Lamson is designing site-specific stone works from the garden's bedrock and imported stone, including carved channels where visitors can pour water and watch how it drains, according to QNS.

Executive Director Evie Hantzopoulos told QNS the project grew out of the garden's master plan and that the site will look very different by 2028.