Finishing touches are preparing Palomar College Arboretum for reopening

Palomar College, with the help of Proposition M funding, is near completion of a six-month renovation of the Edwin and Frances Hunter Arboretum, a public nature preserve on the eastern edge of the San Marcos campus.

“It’s a place for people to go and relax and be in nature,” Antonio Rangel, grounds services supervisor and Palomar College Arboretum president, said. “But more importantly, it’s for species conservation and education – to educate the public about the different species that can grow here, and to educate the public on the status of these species in the wild.”

After the current improvements, he said, the trees and plants that college staff and volunteers have carefully cultivated for decades will be better showcased than they were in the past.

Dennis Astl, manager of construction and facilities planning at Palomar College, said the greatest challenge in planning the improvements was routing the trails in order to avoid taking out any trees, while meeting the grade and width requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“The original design had a tremendous amount of concrete stairs and retaining walls to get it done,” Astl said. “We were able to play around with the trails and … they are now built with natural rock retaining walls.”

The new rock retaining walls on the slow-rising switchback trails were created with rocks unearthed during the process and the trails themselves consist of decomposed granite. The trails are flatter, better defined now and can be enjoyed by all ages, including those on foot, in strollers or in wheelchairs.

“It’s almost hard to describe how different it will be for visitors,” Astl said. “Before, it was kind of like, ‘I think I’m on a path, but I’m not quite sure.’ Now, you know when you’re on the path.”

The improvements have helped create a beautiful experience for everyone, including those with disabilities. The grand reopening ceremony will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 26, with tours of the newly renovated public nature trails.

Additional renovations include a new irrigation system, wells capable of pumping up to 300 gallons of water per minute, new entrance signage and nearly 1 mile of lower area trails compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In a sneak preview tour for the media, Aug. 6, primitive plants, rare and endangered palm trees and bamboo sections, as well as the Hubble Sculpture area, were showcased throughout newly created trails.

According to Rangel, the students at Palomar are in process of geographical information system mapping all the plant species on the property with the goal of all the trees and plants in the arboretum having information for visitors through GPS on their cellphones.

While the entire campus is technically inside a botanical garden, the 9-acre arboretum was created in 1973 and renamed in 2015 for Edwin and Frances Hunter, the late co-founders of Hunter Industries in San Marcos. Their estate donated $500,000 to the Palomar College Foundation four years ago for the long term care and maintenance of the garden.