Dreamy Upgrades Underway at Botanic Garden

Today the City broke ground on renovations to the ABQ BioPark Children’s Fantasy Garden, building a new experience shaped by the ideas of Albuquerque children.

The project reimagines the longtime Botanic Garden favorite to Dreamlands: Exploring a Mythical World, an immersive space designed to give a new generation of visitors even more fuel for their imaginations.

Children’s Fantasy Garden has been a part of growing up in Albuquerque since opening in 2001. This renovation will preserve the fantasy and sense of discovery at the heart of the original vision while improving accessibility, updating aging infrastructure, and creating new opportunities for outdoor play and learning.

 “Thousands of kids grew up playing in this garden, and now they’re coming back with children of their own,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We asked folks to dream big about what should come next, and they did exactly that.”

Community input has been central to the project from the start. More than 1,500 survey responses were collected, with additional ideas gathered through BioPark pop-up events, Camp BioPark sessions, online participation, and hands-on activities created specifically for children. The biggest takeaway was how much families valued the garden’s fantasy elements and nature focus, while also calling for more accessibility and shade, and new opportunities for active and sensory experiences. 

All these ideas helped guide the new Dreamlands concept. Visitors will now follow the colorful Rainbow Path into a mythical world built around the garden’s beloved dragon. New planned experiences include the Sensory Garden and Butterfly Canopy, Kinetic Garden filled with sound and movement, Troll Forest, Treasure Trail, Aspen Maze and Overlook, and a Crystal Geode that will transform the former pumpkin structure into a walk-in crystalline space.

 “There are so many memories wrapped up in this spot, and we wanted the next version to still feel unmistakably like the Children’s Fantasy Garden people know and love,” said ABQ BioPark Associate Director Matthew Peterson. “The community told us what they wanted to hold on to and what they hoped their kids could experience here in the future. Seeing those ideas move from drawings and conversations into something we can actually begin building is incredibly exciting.”

The new garden will also create more opportunities for children to experience nature through play. Plans include accessible pathways, more shade and gathering areas, climbing elements, interactive sculptures, musical features, and sensory plantings. The design is intended to encourage children to move through the garden at their own pace, discovering the story and environment along the way. 

The project design is led by Dekker, with creative input from Meow Wolf, civil engineering by Bohannan Huston Inc., and mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering by Bridgers + Paxton. Franken Construction has been selected as the project contractor, with construction expected to take approximately 13 months. The renovation is funded in part through Albuquerque’s 1/8-cent gross receipts tax, which supports improvements across the ABQ BioPark.

And because an ordinary groundbreaking did not quite fit a garden built around imagination, today’s celebration ended with a burst of multicolored powder, a bright nod to the Rainbow Path that will wind through the reimagined Children’s Fantasy Garden.

Media: Renders, video preview, and event assets available here