Raindrops splatter across the leaf-littered road as a bright blue tram quietly makes its way around a secluded path. Among the trees comes the rustling of birds and small critters and the scent of fresh dew lingers in the soggy air. Even on dreary days, Dawes Arboretum in Newark manages to stay as vibrant and alive as ever.
On Oct. 7, the arboretum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in honor of a new electric tram and high-tech greenhouse. The goal was to better accommodate guests and contribute to the arboretum’s conservation efforts.
“We have a lot of guests that have different abilities; some are wheelchair-bound, some aren’t, and the new tram gives every person the ability to see the arboretum like they’ve never seen it before,” said Matt Riddle, director of development at the arboretum. “[The ceremony] was a really proud moment.”
The tram was able to fit all 18 guests, which included New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding, Newark Mayor Jeff Hall, leaders from both New Albany and Licking County foundations, Meta staff and some of the arboretum’s staff and their families. The passengers of the tram rode down from the visitor center to the new greenhouse, and inside Riddle and other staff members planted a metasequoia, or dawn redwood tree to commemorate the occasion.
“That was kind of cool because the tree has the name ‘meta’ in it and, besides China, we have the largest collection of dawn redwoods in the world,” Riddle said.
Funding to build the tram was provided by the Meta Data Center Community Action Grant. The grant is given in recognition of any project that supports community needs and improves local science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education.
Riddle and other members of the arboretum’s staff initially discussed with Meta different funding opportunities, when the idea of the electric tram was first introduced. Meta ended up loving the idea and Dawes Arboretum accepted the grant award last spring.
The tram is not the only shiny, high-tech attraction at the arboretum. After giving Dawes Arboretum the grant, representatives from Meta visited the reserve and, impressed by the science team’s conservation mission, decided to gift them a new greenhouse.
“We’re really grateful for this new greenhouse; it’s so necessary and it’s going to be so helpful for the growth of our new plants,” said Amanda Bressoud, the arboretum’s nursery assistant.
The new greenhouse is double the size of the older greenhouses and is more accessible by having tables that can be adjusted to accommodate people with wheelchairs.
It is also the first greenhouse at Dawes to have automatic climate control capabilities. Every greenhouse at the arboretum can be climate controlled by lowering and raising plastic flaps on the sides of the buildings using a manual crank. The new greenhouse can perform this climate-control operation without the need of assistance.
“We’re able to set the temperatures ourselves and according to what we put in, the sides of [the greenhouse] will raise and lower on their own,” said Bressoud.
Trees growing in the new greenhouse include black cherry, red oaks, sycamores and river birches. The river birches are being grown for a partnership with Green Columbus, a sustainability focused nonprofit organization.
“[The greenhouse] is going to put 10,000 more native trees into Central Ohio that weren’t there before,” said Riddle.
“We’re very excited about the greenhouse and the capacity that this gives us to grow new plants for the arboretum as well as our community,” added Holly Latteman, the director of science and research at Dawes.
Several other projects are currently underway at the arboretum to improve the visitor experience. Improvements Include the construction of a new welcome center in the summer of 2026 with a café, a bigger gift shop, and a library.
“We want to kind of create that Starbucks feel so people can plug in and spend the day there with their friends and family,” Riddle said.
Dawes Arboretum is also hosting a holiday series called Winter Wonders Walk from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4 (for members only), and Dec. 5, 6, 11, 12, and 13 for the general public. Winter Wonders Walk is a nature-friendly holiday light display where the trees at the arboretum will be illuminated from below using LED lights rather than having light strings tied around the trees. A video screening of the lights will be provided inside the visitor center for those with accessibility challenges.
Registration for the series is currently open. More details are provided by Dawes Arboretum on its website.
This story was updated Monday, Nov. 10, to correct information about the Dawes Arboretum Winter Wonders Walk. The Reporting Project regrets the error.
Shaye Phillips writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.