Cal State San Marcos may get help with the landscaping around a new conference center at the university.
Neal Hoss, vice president of advancement for the university, said Friday that two North County men in a volunteer group that plants environmentally friendly gardens ---- called "tomorrow gardens" ---- for free at schools and other sites have offered to landscape the side of a hill next to the 4-month-old center with the help of volunteers.
Although nothing is firm yet, Hoss said, university officials hope to see the project come together by April in time for Earth Day celebrations.
The landscaping job, which could save CSUSM an estimated $200,000 or more, also could be tied into celebrations CSUSM is planning to mark its 20th anniversary, he said.
"The idea is that we would have California native plant landscaping there with plants that would have educational and informational plaques with the plantings," said Hoss. "So that would be an opportunity for education, certainly, for the staff, students and the community."
The project could also make the site a future field trip destination for area schoolchildren, he added.
Event and meeting planners and business leaders from throughout the region got a chance to check out the meeting center ---- known as The McMahan House ---- during a grand opening celebration there last week.
The $5 million center opened in July and includes four small buildings around a courtyard atop a knoll near the university's main entrance.
The buildings include a 1,624-square-foot "great room" that can hold up to 150 people. A 596-square-foot library, a 500-square-foot circular tower room, and a 416-square-foot retreat room also are part of the center.
When the courtyard is added, The McMahan House offers 3,238 square feet of space that can be rented for fundraisers, large dinners, alumni events, weddings and other events.
Cuts to the university's budget have kept university officials from landscaping the site.
Scott Gross, director of community engagement for CSUSM, said the roughly 75 people who attended the grand opening seemed to like The McMahan House anyway.
Many people marveled over the center's unique design, which mixes contemporary style elements such as glass and steel with natural materials such as stone and wood, Gross said.
"I heard this comment several times throughout the night: 'Wow, we have nothing like this throughout the county,'" he said.
The men who made the landscaping offer ---- Jeff Zotara and Michael Austin ---- are with Carlsbad-based nonprofit United We Paint. Neither could be reached last week for comment.
The nonprofit's Web site says tomorrow gardens are part of a community outreach program designed to increase environmental awareness by students. The gardens incorporate native plants that need little water, the site says.
Last year, United We Paint installed a similar garden outside two historical homes that are open for public tours in the city's Heritage Park, located inside Walnut Grove Park off Twin Oaks Valley Road.
Hoss said a tomorrow garden would add more than just landscaping to The McMahan House.
"It's pretty exciting because it'll really provide another venue up there," he said. "It'll be a fun project."
Call staff writer Andrea Moss at 760-739-6654.
