International Plant Science Center (Steere Herbarium)

2670 Southern Boulevard | also 2600 Southern Boulevard | Bronx Park | built 1897

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1988

    February

    Herbarium crowding leads the garden to plan a four-story research addition

    By early 1988 the garden's herbarium had filled every vacant room in the old Museum Building, including former exhibition space. Officials planned a four-story expansion east of the building's north wing, meant to open in 1991. In 1992 the project was delayed, with the garden announcing a $32 million cost and a 1994 finish.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1998

    Polshek Partnership builds the International Plant Science Center behind the old museum

    The new research building went up behind the northern wing of Robert W. Gibson's Museum Building, to designs by Polshek Partnership. It contains the Steere Herbarium, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library and the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery and Lecture Hall. When the city landmarked the Museum Building in 2009, this addition was excluded.

    “The International Plant Science Center was constructed behind the Museum Building's northern wing in 1998 (Polshek Partnership, architect), containing the William and Linda Steere Herbarium…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 2002

    The International Plant Science Center opens and the library and herbarium move in

    Plans finalized in 1997 put the cost at $39 million, with nine research rooms, herbarium and library space, and a new entrance to the basement lecture hall. Work was originally meant to end in 2000, but the opening slipped to 2002. The library collections and the Steere Herbarium then moved into the new building.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 2002

    William and Lynda Steere endow the garden's herbarium, which takes their name

    The herbarium takes its name from William Steere, whose father was William C. Steere, and his wife Lynda, who endowed it in 2002. Founded in 1891 and housed in the International Plant Science Center, it holds roughly 7.8 million specimens. In 1895 it took in Columbia College's herbarium, which held the private collections of John Torrey and C. F. Meisner.

    “The herbarium is named after William Steere (son of William C. Steere) and his wife Lynda, who endowed the herbarium in 2002.”

    Source: Wikipedia

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