
Special Attraction for Daffodil Day 2025: Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory.

Over the last five years, $12.5 million has been spent on a major restoration of the Conservatory. In 2019, twenty steel beams in the center dome were replaced. With more work needed, the Conservatory closed again in 2022. In the dome, fifteen hundred panes of glass were replaced with a newly developed laminated glass. Lead paint and asbestos were removed, a new irrigation system was installed, catwalks were replaced, and much more.
Improvements not only secured the structure of the Conservatory, they also made a better environment for the plants. The laminated glass helps control light and heat from the sun. Changes in ventilation help the plants and make a more comfortable environment for visitors.
The Belle Isle Conservatory, and its sister building the Belle Isle Aquarium, were built by architects George D. Mason and Albert Kahn. Completed in 1904, it is the United States’ oldest continually-running conservatory. The architects were influenced by British horticultural buildings from the mid-eighteenth century, including The Crystal Palace and Palm House at Kew.
Over the years, the Conservatory suffered from deferred maintenance. It was in need of extensive repairs by the 1950’s. Anna Scripps Whitcomb, internationally know for her orchid collection, provided half a million dollars for extensive repairs. Decaying wooden beams were replaced with steel and other improvements made. Later, she donated her extensive collection of over six hundred orchids. The greenhouse was re-named the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory in her honor.
A Conservatory highlight is the Children's Temperance Fountain with its charming statue of a little girl. Erected in 1910, the monument was paid for by the children of Detroit who gave theirs pennies as a plea for temperance. It cost $2,500.
Temperance fountains, often included drinking fountains, were popular at the time. They were to encourage working men to drink water and return home to their families, rather than spending their wages on beer.
Prohibition was repealed and the monument fell into disrepair. The statue of the little girl was being used in various flower shows. In mid-1960's, the statue was repaired and returned to the Conservatory on Belle Isle. A plaque was added in 1963.