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Royal Roads is revitalizing its gardens

Royal Roads is revitalizing its gardens

The university received a large donation to put towards the project

Emma Boyne
May 31, 2023

TD bank’s donation in front of the gardens. Photo: Royal Roads University

Long known for its beautiful gardens and historical architecture, Royal Roads University has made a commitment to refresh and renew its facilities—a reality that is now possible with the campaign, A Vision in Bloom.

On May 30, the University held an event and announced a $196,000 donation to the campaign from TD bank, something the university’s president Philip Steenkamp says is a gracious and exciting opportunity.

“The fundraising campaign was an initiative created to to support all the work we are doing in the gardens, which was the focus of the announcement,” says Steenkamp. “Whether the support comes in the form of money, whether it's [people visiting], it's all equally valued.”

The gardens are an opportunity for both learning and research space, allowing students, faculty, and local members to become more educated in agriculture, history, and community.

I'm so grateful for the team of @RoyalRoads gardeners, who put so much care and attention in to their work every single day — and for all those gardeners who came before them as well. Just look at this century-old wisteria!
@Gardens_BC
— Philip Steenkamp (@rrupresident)
May 25, 2023

With the goal to develop the campus grounds, Royal Roads University looks to further tackle food insecurity and biodiversity through: the growth of the kitchen and farm garden, the restoration and sharing of cultural heritage through the Japanese tea gardens, and the promise to act on reconciliation through the preservation and acknowledgement of Indigenous history.

“We want to use this as an opportunity to develop more academic programs around food and food insecurity as well, so we can make a contribution both on the teaching and learning side, but also on the research side about how we deal with these issues moving forward,” says Steenkamp.

While the project still has many years ahead of it, Steenkamp says that he is excited to open up the space to even more visitors, allowing the public to share the beauty of the gardens.

Showing the donation to crowd in the Royal Roads gardens. Photo: Royal Roads University

“There are limited public tours available, but I'd like to make it much more of a destination and provide more frequent and easier access to the castle,” says Steenkamp. “We could use it then to tell the story about this place. You know, going back to the Indigenous history part as well, the history during the Dunsmuir era and the military here before we became a public university in 1995.”

Head to https://rruinbloom.ca/ to learn more about the project.