See the new building Join the celebration for the new Merrill Hall on Jan. 19, beginning with a ribbon cutting at 1:30 p.m. by UW President Mark Emmert. Staff members will be leading tours, a woodwind quartet will perform a world-premier piece written for the occasion, and a juried show of botanical art will be on display in the Miller Library. The center will also host an open house on Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m; see the center's Web site (www.urbanhort.org) for more information on activities that day. The center is at 3501 N.E. 41st St.

THE NEW MERRILL HALL at the Center for Urban Horticulture has risen out of the ashes of the old.

The Miller-Hull Partnership has designed a building like, yet unlike, the earlier version. The welcoming feel and residential scale so well-suited to the building's purpose and its site in the Laurelhurst neighborhood remain. But the new Merrill is built with innovative materials, is 2,000 square feet larger, forges a closer connection to the nearby wetlands, and is clearly designed to serve the horticultural community well into the 21st century.

For those of you not familiar with the still shocking story, it was in May 2001 (before 9/11 made the word "terrorist" part of our daily vocabulary) that the flagship building at the center was destroyed. During the night, someone crept in and torched gallon drums of gasoline, burning down offices, labs, library, herbarium and Master Gardeners outreach spaces. Books, papers — the work of decades — were only partly salvageable. Environmental Liberation Front eco-terrorists claimed responsibility, motivated by their erroneous beliefs about the work of one scientist in the building.

For 3½ years, staff and faculty have crowded into trailers, and the public has made do with a much-reduced library and herbarium.

JULIE NOTARIANNI /THE SEATTLE TIMES
			Mahonia x media 'Charity' may be closely related to the native Oregon grape, yet its luxuriantly large saw-toothed foliage brings a touch of the exotic to the garden year-round. Even more impressive is the fact it blooms in the dead of winter. Birds love its blue-black autumn berry clusters, followed by fragrant yellow flower spikes that rise above the foliage from Christmas until Valentine's Day. Sturdy and evergreen, this mahonia grows in a vase shape 7 to 10 feet high.

The rebuilding has been a long, weary saga, plagued by lack of funding. But you'd never guess it when you step through the door of the nearly transparent, peaked-roofed Greenhouse Commons, where, from the named tiles on the floor to an impressive donor wall, the gardening community is given the credit it deserves for once again building Merrill Hall. The original complex was funded by donations. Contributions from the Miller Charitable Foundation, the Northwest Horticultural Society, the Bullitt Foundation and more than 500 other organizations and individuals enlarged the new building and made possible the "green" features in this first sustainable building on the University of Washington's Seattle campus.

The center "has been a place where people can come and learn about gardening," says lead designer Craig Curtis. "Now it will also demonstrate real-world sustainability in a fairly low-tech way."

Inhale fresh air as you enter, so unusual in a new building. "There's no fumes from the carpet or paint," explains Sue Nicol, project coordinator. "This is a healthy building for the contractors, staff and visitors." The environment outside and in has been considered in detail, from the water-based finish on the wood to the green roof and drip irrigation.

The Berger Partnership has designed a Stormwater Demonstration Garden (not yet funded) that harvests rainwater, complete with a 2,300-gallon underground cistern. Notice the sustainable materials such as bamboo floors and straw-board cabinets pressed from North Dakota wheat fields, the low-flush toilets and waterless urinals expected to reduce water use by 35 percent, and the handsome transom windows that promote air circulation throughout the naturally ventilated building. Richard Chapman of the UW Capital Projects Office says Merrill Hall is targeted to receive recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council.

And if this lovely building makes you a little nervous, rest assured that this time around Merrill Hall is equipped with plenty of sprinklers and a state-of-the-art security system.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle free-lance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.