Bonita Springs’ Wonder Gardens plans to build a much-needed event center after landing $1.3 million in state funds, the popular tourist attraction announced Nov. 11.
The climate-controlled center will overlook the Imperial River and replace the Gardens’ Hurricane Ian-damaged barn building. It would be home to year-round classes, summer camps, educational programs and private events such as weddings.
The open-air barn building was unsafe for public events after flooding from Hurricane Ian, says Wonder Gardens president and CEO Neil Anderson. The barn has since been removed from the property.
“We needed this…” Anderson says. “After Ian, we desperately needed some sort of indoor climate-controlled facility for just so many different programs and community offerings.”
Bonita event center helps ‘renew the wonder’ at Wonder Gardens
The event center is part of the Wonder Gardens’ ongoing Renew The Wonder — a master plan to revitalize the roadside attraction and open new exhibits. That plan was finished in May 2023.
The $1.3 million was approved through Florida’s appropriations budget during the 2025 Florida legislative session, which ended in June. State Rep. Adam Botana helped them get the money, according to a Wonder Gardens news release.
The Wonder Gardens waited to announce the funding at the start of the 2025-26 entertainment season and closer to their planned 90th-anniversary celebration on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2026, Anderson says.
They haven’t actually received the money yet, he says, but that’s expected soon. They’re still working out the contract and details with the state.
Wonder Gardens event center to include new restrooms, access to aviary
The Wonder Gardens already has an initial design for the approximately 2,000-square-foot event center, Anderson says. Soon they’ll be looking for contractors to design and build it.
“So we’re already ahead of the game,” he says. “We’re not starting from scratch.”
Planning for the event could take another six or seven months, he says. If all goes well, the event center could open in 2027.
The center will sit in the Gardens’ southwest corner in place of an existing tea house, which will be moved to the old barn area, he says.
The building will bring much-needed public restrooms to that side of the property. It will also include an on-site kitchen area and an entry point to an adjacent aviary and an outdoor deck overlooking the Imperial River and Riverside Park.
The state funding is expected to pay for the entire project, Anderson says.
More about Bonita Springs’ Wonder Gardens
Established in 1936, The Wonder Gardens is the oldest roadside attraction in Southwest Florida. The botanical garden and animal refuge draws 75,000-90,000 people to Bonita Springs every year, Anderson says.
Attendance has been climbing this season, he says, thanks partly to the popular new Otter Grotto exhibit and other upgrades made as part of the Renew The Wonder master plan. About 4,500 people visited in October 2025, compared to 2,100 last October.
Anderson and the nonprofit that runs the Wonder Gardens have big plans for the 3.5-acre property, including an amphitheater, primate and sloth exhibits, new aviaries and a “canopy walk” that takes visitors up into the treetops.
All those plans have been made possible thanks to a 10-year agreement the nonprofit Bonita Wonder Gardens, Inc. signed in 2024 with the City of Bonita Springs. That public-private partnership, Anderson says, finally gets the city and the nonprofit on the same page and focusing on the future of the beloved Bonita attraction.
“The key is getting people to work together,” Anderson said in summer 2024. “And coming together for something that is really something special.”
For more information about The Wonder Gardens and its Renew The Wonder plans, visit WonderGardens.org.
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells).
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Wonder Gardens gets $1.3 million for new Bonita event center
Reporting by Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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