LOCALE: Japanese Tea Gardens

[iCe]

Japanese Tea Garden
3875 N. St Mary's Street
San Antonio, Texas 78212
(210) 735-0663
Japanese Tea Gardens

Photo Ops Map Location

[darktiger]

have they added the water back yet?

[frevrnlv]

Originally Posted by darktiger

have they added the water back yet?

Wondering the same ...

[Murph]

Still no water.

[Nikolai]

Any update on the water? I want to go shoot there, but not without it being up 100%.

[exposedmedia]

looked pretty bad last time i went. i had heard that it was going to be renovated soon but haven't seen any progress.

[darktiger]

Does anyone know if they have done anything yet?

[frevrnlv]

Originally Posted by darktiger

Does anyone know if they have done anything yet?

Curious here as well ... weather permitting, I may try to go out there tomorrow after work.

[darktiger]

If you go out there, please post what you see...

[Dwight]

Anyone had a chance to check in on this?

I have an idea for a model shoot and would like to do it there but the last time I was there (June 2006) it was still a mess, no water and construction equipment all over the place and it did not look anywhere near completion.

[Dwight]

I finally made it to the Tea Garden yesterday afternoon. It looks like the place is getting close to officially reopening. All the major construction equipment, scaffolding, etc. is gone. Unfortunately there is still no water in the pond but maybe by next spring. There is a sign saying that the place is closed but it was being roundly ignored. In the couple of hours I was there I saw probably 150 people coming and going.

Here are a quick and dirty grabs. I was just scouting so I didn't worry about composition, exposure and all that professional stuff.

High above the garden on the back road:


A dirt side trail:


There are a bunch of stone pillars around the upper edge of the site:


Inside the open air pavillion:


Bridge. This can be seen from a distance in the 1st image:


Storm clouds rolling in:

[3n-Out]

The second to the last picture is very good work. My eyes follow it up all the way from the bottom to the top of the picture.

[Dwight]

This is now closed to the public. 6 foot chain link fences across all the entrances. They are saying reopen in 2008 I am predicting 2018.

[OTRphoto]

RE-OPENED

The Japanese Tea Garden reopened Saturday, March 8, with fanfare that included a serenade of Japanese songs by Tafoyalla Middle School Japanese students, keyboard by Carol Gulley, calligraphy and origami demonstrations, and an enormous Koi-shaped cake. The garden had been closed while the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department and the San Antonio Parks Foundation complete infrastructure rehabilitation to the facility, to include walkways, piping, filtration, wall repairs, and pond sealing. The restored garden features a lush year-round garden and a floral display with shaded walkways, stone bridges, a 60-foot waterfall and ponds filled with Koi. The project cost $1,587,470 funded from public and private sources including the City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Parks Foundation, and Friends of the Parks.

Members of the Jingu family, which lived and worked in the Garden, in the 1920s, attended the ceremony, along with the descendents of Ray Lambert, the Park Commissioner who conceived of the idea of turning an abandoned rock quarry into a "lily pond," also attended.


The Parks Foundation now plans to pursue another phase that will feature the renovation of the Jingu house.
Reservations are not currently being taken for weddings or other events at the garden, pending the implementation of that next phase of construction.

[Murph]

And its a pale shadow if its glory days, but you know what? It will come back, the volunteers did a magnificent job on it.