Arnold Arboretum Launches Mobile Visitor Center

BOSTON, MA (October 29, 2021) – Civic and elected leaders joined the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University today to celebrate the launch of the Arboretum’s new Mobile Visitor Center, an exciting chapter in welcoming visitors and promoting connections with the natural world ahead of the Arboretum’s 150th anniversary in 2022.

Improving the sense of arrival across the Arboretum’s 281 acres, the Mobile Visitor Center will serve as a platform for multilingual education about trees and plants. Its portability will allow for Arboretum staff to better engage residents at Arboretum entrances in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale as well as passersby from the dozens of bus and train lines that operate adjacent to the landscape in Jamaica Plain.

“The Arboretum is free and open to all, and we remain committed to doing everything we can to make it feel welcoming to all,” said William (Ned) Friedman, Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Director of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. “In an era of pandemic and amid the ongoing need to advance environmental justice, access to the Arboretum has become an imperative for public health and wellbeing. The Mobile Visitor Center will soon become a familiar resource throughout our landscape and at entrances that connect to multiple neighborhoods in Boston.”

The Mobile Visitor Center comes on the heels of other efforts to promote a welcoming landscape including the launch of a multilingual app, Expeditions, new partnerships with the Boston Public Schools, and ongoing free programming both online and in the landscape.

The Mobile Visitor Center was made possible through the generous support of Gwill York, Chair of the Arboretum’s Sesquicentennial Host Committee.

“The Mobile Visitor Center will create countless new opportunities to inspire Arboretum neighbors and guests of all ages to notice, enjoy, and cherish its landscape through all of its entrances,” said York. “The Arboretum has long been a place to take a break from city life. Its work forging relationships between people and the global natural world has never been more important as trees and plants and all of us are threatened from drought, floods and heat.”

"The past year and a half has given us all a new appreciation for parks and open spaces as they were the one place we could go during quarantine periods to get some mental wellness," said Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston. "The Arboretum is a space to learn about and connect with the natural world. I am excited that more residents will be able to engage with the crucial work of Boston's tree canopy."

“A Boston gem and remarkable open space, the Arnold Arboretum has been an oasis for our city’s residents and visitors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Council President Pro Tempore and Chair of the Council’s Committee on Environment, Resiliency and Parks Matt O’Malley. “The Mobile Visitor Center will serve as an incredible resource to deepen learning and engagement on the park’s comprehensive collections of trees and plants.”

“The new Mobile Visitor Center is a great resource for those who take advantage of the Arboretum’s great location and resources,” said State Senator Mike Rush. “I encourage everyone to visit this outdoor crown jewel in of the city of Boston.”

About the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

A 281-acre preserve in the heart of Boston, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University stewards one of the world’s most comprehensive and best documented collections of temperate woody plants, with particular focus on the floras of eastern North America and eastern Asia. The living collections, herbarium, and library and archives support research both in its laboratories at Weld Hill and by scholars around the world. Free and open every day, the Arnold Arboretum is a place for people to deepen their connection with nature, a safe harbor for plants, and a jewel in the Emerald Necklace park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.