Bird Gardens - BGT History - Busch Gardens Tampa History

The “original” Busch Gardens, the Bird Gardens area is where it all began for the Tampa park with lush tropical gardens and exotic birds. Today, guests will still find a variety of gardens and birds throughout the area, along with newer additions like the Australian-themed Walkabout Way.

Fast Facts

Official Open Date: June 1, 1959

Today

In addition to the botanical sights, Bird Gardens also has a variety of animal habitats, photo-ops, dining & shopping options. Beyond the year-round things to do in Bird Gardens, the area also serves as the entrance to the festival area and often becomes part of those events with temporary food, merchandise, and game booths.

Animal Habitats

Flamingo Island
Kangaloom (in Walkabout Way)
The Kookaburra’s Nest (in Walkabout Way)
Lory Landing
Avian & Reptile Habitats (near Sesame Street Safari of Fun)

Dining

Springs Taproom

Entertainment

Coke Canopy

Shopping

Xcursions

Other

Pass Member Landing

History

“I think it would be nice if we put a garden on this corner lot here,” is what August A. Busch Jr, president of Anheuser-Busch said to his chief counsel, Anthony Buford, when looking at a 15-acre plot covered with sand and weeds. This was part of the site for a new brewery complex planned in Tampa. A new brewery was announced for the 160-acre site in July of 1957, the main driver of the project that would end up including Busch’s garden and some two decades later, a full-fledged theme park.

An aerial image printed in the Tampa Times in late March 1959, showing the brewery and gardens nearing completion:

The Anheuser-Busch Brewery and the rest of the gardens were dedicated in a ceremony on March 31, 1959. The new brewery and park were dedicated in honor of the past Anheuser-Busch presidents including Adolphus Busch, 1880-1913; August A. Busch, 1913-1934; and Adolphus Busch III, 1934-1946.

A marker with the dedication was unveiled at the ceremony by Adolphus Busch IV, the five-year-old great-grandson of the first president. Along with the names of past presidents in raised gold-leafed lettering on the large stone, the marker also featured the company’s intertwined eagle and ‘A’ logo carved from a solid piece of walnut by Jonathan Jones of St. Petersburg. It was housed in an open A-frame structure with handmade copper shingles.

Around 2000 dignitaries, members of the press, and other invited guests attended the ceremony. Speakers included Anheuser-Busch company president August A. Busch Jr., State Comptroller Ray E. Green, Tampa Mayor Nick Nuccio, president of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce H. L. (Dusty) Crowder, plant manager Kenneth H. Bitting, Jr., and president of St. Louis University Reverend Paul C. Reinert.

The events of the day also included tours of the brewery & grounds, a luncheon, trained macaw demonstrations, and a major league exhibition ball game between the Anheuser-Busch owned St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox at Al Lopez Field in Tampa.

Mills and Jones, a company from St. Petersburg, served as the general contractor for the gardens project. The landscape architect was Charles R. Wedding, and he was assisted by James E. Hammond. Architect William B. Harvard designed the Hospitality House. The new gardens encompassed 15 acres just to the southwest of the main brewery facility and the project was reported as a half-million-dollar investment.

Busch Gardens Tampa opened to the public on Monday, June 1, 1959, with an estimated 1,600 guests attending. The first visitors, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Metzel, were presented with a ceramic planter with a replica of the company’s Clydesdale eight-horse hitch. Hours at the time of park opening were listed as 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays for the brewery, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the gardens. On Sundays, the brewery was closed, but the gardens were open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Following opening day, the plant and gardens were closed on Mondays. Admission to the gardens and brewery was free.

Within the first two weeks, more than 20,000 guests visited the brewery and gardens, exceeding the company’s expectations. This included 3,500 guests visiting on Sunday, June 7 alone. The high attendance resulted in personnel increases and updates to visiting hours. The brewery and gardens were open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday. The brewery remained closed to tours on Sundays, but the gardens were open from 1 to 4 p.m. Both the plant and gardens continued to be closed on Mondays. Sundays proved to be especially popular for visits throughout 1959, so much so that complaints from nearby residents about traffic and parking around the gardens prompted the city to study the situation late in the year.

Outside of the brewery tour and free samples, the gardens were the main draw for many visitors to the park, with hundreds of varieties of native and exotic flowers, trees, and other foliage planted throughout the park, all taken care of by more than a dozen professionals. This included several curved palms just inside the entrance, one of them being raised from a Spanish seedling by a Tampa couple for 60 years. All told, there were some 200 botanical species represented in a total of 38,000 plants at opening, with plans to plant 50,000 flowering annuals each year.

Hundreds of birds, many free-roaming, called the new gardens home. That included a pair of eagles representing the company’s trademark, over 200 members of the parrot family, 50 flamingos, 40 toucans, and 50 swans, ducks, and other waterfowl. Some of the birds came from Parrot Jungle in Miami, and some of their staff also made the move to assist in their training and care at the park. By the end of the first year of the gardens’ operation, the number of birds neared 1,000, representing over 50 species, including 75 flamingos and 100 macaws. Early animal habitats included Devil’s Island and the flamingo habitat, the latter of which is still there today. A posing area allowed guests to get photos with a colorful macaw or parrot on their shoulder.

Since so many of the birds were free-roaming, a few incidents were recorded in the first year of the gardens’ operation. That includes the attempted kidnapping of a parrot by a young girl, caught trying to get the bird into her parents’ car. Two macaws also went unaccounted for, believed to have been taken by guests. Occasionally a guest would get too close to one of the birds and get bitten, but not seriously injured. Even with many birds being free-flying, the expert care they received was evident as they willingly returned each day in the late afternoon when called to go into their night houses.

By the end of October 1959, it was reported that more than 250,000 had visited the gardens, including guests from all 50 US states and many countries around the world. By mid-March 1960, over 600,000 guests had visited, and by the first anniversary in June 1960, the park had welcomed its 850,000th visitor.

Pathways, including a raised promenade, allowed guests to wander through the gardens and around three connected lagoons. Attractions in the first few years of the park’s existence included the Bird Show Amphitheater with free shows featuring trained birds, and Dwarf Village, which featured scenes from popular children’s tales in miniature.

Improvements to the gardens took place almost from the time the park opened to guests. The Adolphus Busch Space Frame (later known as the Geodesic Dome), which held rarer birds, opened on March 22, 1960. Exactly one year later, Stairway to the Stars opened on March 22, 1961, as part of an improvement project at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

The park was showcased on WFLA’s television broadcast of Floridaland Gardens on May 27, 1961. Park Director Richard Naegeli and Manager of Public Activities Thomas J. Pinta took viewers on a tour of the gardens showing off the huge variety of plants and animals. Different scenes from around the park combined information about the flora with musical vignettes, and Naegeli presented just a few of the nearly 1,000 exotic birds that called the park home. Staff gardeners tended to between 35,000 and 50,000 plants depending on the season.

Species of birds at the park in 1961 included Hyacinth macaws (the world’s largest) and Noble macaws (the world’s smallest) from Brazil, African gray parrots, mustached parakeets from Indo-China, toucans from Brazil, Lutino and ring-necked parakeets from India, sulphur-crested cockatoos from Australia, and double-yellow-headed Amazons from South America. The nearby University of South Florida benefited from having such a variety of birds from around the world, with two professors conducting research projects.

Beyond the normal operations where guests came to enjoy the brewery tour, gardens, and bird show, the park also hosted various events. One such special event was the Miss Greater Tampa Contest finals, held at the park in late July 1961.

In the fall of 1962, 121 new birds arrived at the park, having made the trip on a flight from Los Angeles. The birds were hand-selected by Richard Naegeli, August Busch Jr., and animal consultant George P. Vierheller. Among the new arrivals were crowned pigeons from New Guinea, Chilian flamingoes, 25 pairs of scarlet ibis from Brazil, geese, magpies, curassows, cockatoos, hornbills, and lorikeets. With the additions, approximately 250 species of birds were on display.

While a free attraction in the early years with complimentary samples of Anheuser-Busch products at the Hospitality House, the picnic lunches were not permitted to be brought onto the grounds.

By 1967, it was reported the gardens held some 100,000 flowers and 150,000 other plants such as trees and shrubs.

An aerial image of much of Bird Gardens from a late 1960s brochure including views of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Hospitality House, Adolphus Busch Space Frame, Bird Show Amphitheater, and Flamingo Island:

By 1977, it was reported there were some 2,500 exotic birds as part of the area, along with a bird show and a puppet show.

In more recent years, a number of special activities have occurred within the Bird Gardens area.

An all-new experience, an interactive Pumpkin Patch, debuted on the lawn between Xcursions and Walkabout Way on October 5, 2011. There was a children’s hay maze, various games, crafts, fall-themed photo ops, special appearances from Sesame Street characters The Count and Abby Cadabby, and the option to purchase and paint pumpkins to take home. The Pumpkin Patch was open daily and ran through November.

For Easter in 2012, a new experience was offered on the lawn outside Xcursions. An egg hunt was held five times daily, with every child receiving a gift for participating. There was also a craft station, photos with the Easter Bunny, and a Pick-a-Pop game. Participation in the egg hunt and craft station was $5, and a photo with the Easter Bunny was available for $10.

As of Summer 2012, there were two species of peafowl roaming around the area – Indian and Javan. There were four Indian peafowl – two white females, one white male, and one blue female. One of the white females “adopted” Javan peafowl chicks, who were born to their parents that resided in the Jungala section of the park.

In November 2012, two new topiaries went on display on the corner of the lake outside of Garden Gate Cafe – a Commerson dolphin representing SeaWorld and another representing turtles swimming around coral. These were removed by Spring 2017.

Easter festivities returned to the lawn outside Xcursions in 2013. From mid-March through Easter Day, March 31, guests could participate in an egg hunt, held each hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. There were also crafts, games, and a photo op with the Easter Bunny. Pricing remained the same as it was in 2012.

In late August 2015, the path between Flamingo Island and Kangaloom closed in order to be significantly widened. The Kookaburra’s Nest was closed during this work. Guests could still access Kangaloom from the opposite side coming from the Garden Gate area.

In early 2017, a new addition appeared in the small butterfly garden area along the path between Garden Gate Cafe and the flamingo habitat. A small frog topiary was installed, which looked like it was leaping forward to catch its next meal. Around the same time, the memorial bench for Pinky was moved from outside Jambo Junction to the small deck overlooking the flamingo habitat.

On March 7, 2018, Wild Blue Country, a United States Air Force Academy Band, performed on the Coca-Cola Stage across from Garden Gate Cafe at noon and 1:30 p.m. In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, special food, beverages, and entertainment were available around the Coca-Cola Stage near Garden Gate Cafe on May 5, 2018. The Coca-Cola Share a Coke Tour stopped at the park on June 10, 2018, and set up along the Gwazi Park pathway.

From April 14 to 21, 2019, the Easter Bunny was available for pictures at select times beginning at 11:30 a.m. daily on the deck overlooking the flamingo habitat.

Wendy’s visited the park on August 3, 2019, with free samples of their maple bacon frosty.