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Site of Lyons mobile home park destroyed by 2013 floods becoming botanic garden

When the 2013 floods came through Lyons, part of the community was lost. Now a nonprofit is giving the land a new purpose with the addition of a huge garden.

LYONS, Colo. — A mobile home park outside of Lyons that was overrun in the 2013 floods is finding a new purpose.

“Lyons is a great place for a botanic [garden], and I started asking the town – I think it was 12 years ago. We kept looking for land and nothing was available until the flood happened,” Garima Fairfax, the president of Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens, said.

Her group is a local non-profit currently turning the area near Bohn Park into a massive garden that will include plants native to Colorado, and serve as a peaceful spot for visitors to learn and relax.

Fairfax said the weeds grew to 5 feet tall before the organization and community members cleared the space.

While landscaping and planting have been underway since last year, the area is relatively bare today but should develop more in the spring. For now, the garden is filled with winding pathways lined by rocks left behind after the flood.

It also includes a bench donated by a family that lived in the park until the flood uprooted them.

“It’s been the most fun project you can imagine,” Fairfax said. “Some of the people who used to live here come by sometimes and are so overjoyed that we are building a public garden here.”

Organizers closed the garden because of the COVID-19 pandemic but hope to open it by summer. Admission will be free.

Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens said this is the first botanic garden in Boulder County.

If you're interested in learning more about the group or donating to their cause, you can find more details on their website.

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