MANSFIELD — Although Dick Taylor has passed, his legacy lives on.
In December of last year, just one month before his death, the philanthropic businessman presented Kingwood Center Gardens with a check in the amount of $3 million, which will be used to construct a new visitor center.
This announcement was made Friday night during a catered reception in Kingwood Hall.
The Taylor family has been a strong supporter of Kingwood Center Gardens.
“When Kingwood was built, this was out in the country; now it’s a little bit of paradise here in Mansfield,” said Dick’s son, Mark Taylor.
Dick used to visit Charles Kelley King’s 47-acre estate with his wife, Helen. Mark said his father appreciated knowing that Kingwood was under good stewardship and would be here for many, many years to come.
“These are very exciting times for Kingwood Center,” said Kingwood Board Chairman Duffy Carto.
The visitor center is part of a master plan meant to help move the scenic tourist attraction into the 21st century. The plan got rolling with the renovation of the Carriage House, which was completed last spring.
“We think that turned out very well, and we’re very pleased with that,” Carto said of the renovation.
The visitor center, which will be located behind the Draffan Fountain, will help make the gardens more customer-friendly by providing an elegant entrance and orientation point for visitors, Carto said.
It will have restrooms, exhibits featuring Richland County and Kingwood history, as well as space for offices, receptions and education — “all the things that we feel that Charles Kelley King ultimately wanted Kingwood to be,” Carto said.
Chuck Gleaves, Kingwood Center Gardens executive director, said the visitor center will transform how Kingwood does business.
“It’s going to make us much more self-sufficient and just be a wonderful thing,” he said.
To help fund the different phases outlined in the master plan, Kingwood’s leadership embarked on an capital campaign.
“We found that we were very fortunate — not only was the Carriage House made possible by benefactors we didn’t even know were there, but now we have found that the visitor’s center has been made possible by people we did know were there,” Carto said.
The Taylor family’s donation gives Kingwood a “running start” toward achieving its master plan.
“We’re really on our way,” Gleave said.
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Garden Discovery Days also kicked off Friday night. It continues Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $5 per car at the gate.
