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After almost 10 years of planning, work has finally begun on Gateway Gardens , the city’s fourth public garden and the first built since 1991 .

“Aren’t we excited,” said Ann Steighner , chairwoman of Greensboro Beautiful , a volunteer group that helped develop the other gardens. “It’s got everything.”

The 11-acre project at East Lee and East Florida streets will be built in phases and likely will cost more than $6 million .

Work on the first phase should be complete next spring or summer at a cost of $2.9 million . The other phases will be completed as funds are available. To date, $4.7 million has been raised or pledged.

Funding has been a collaborative effort between Greensboro Beautiful and the city , which provided the land and $2.5 million in bond money. Greensboro Beautiful raised $1.7 million, and the state provided a $500,000 grant .

The gardens will be maintained by the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department .

The first phase will include site work, decorative fencing, a main entrance, a parking lot, an entry wall, landscaping, irrigation, public art, a rain garden and pond, a heritage garden and a children’s garden.

The latter will include a streamside discovery area, plant maze, plant tunnel and book stage.

“The children’s garden will be a new component for Greensboro’s public gardens,” said Kathy Cates , City Beautiful director with the department. “It is fantastic; it is fun; it is engaging; it is educational.”

Later phases will include a visitors’ center, a Japanese garden, a wedding and special events garden, and walking trails within an existing white oak forest.

“The plan has developed over the years so that it will be even better than our existing gardens,” Cates said.

The gardens, which sit across East Florida Street from Barber Park , will be the first in the southeastern part of the city. Located a half mile from Interstate 40/85 , they are expected to attract 250,000 visitors a year.

The city’s existing public gardens are the Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden , the Greensboro Arboretum and the Bog Garden at Benjamin Park .

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com