The new Hall of Environmental Education at the Arboretum has been completed and will open to the public shortly. The 8,000 sq. ft. auditorium in the new building accommodates nearly 1,000 people. It will be used for exhibits, classes and shows.
County supervisors called a halt to a plan to merge the Department of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens with the county Museum of Natural History because the county's Economy and Efficiency Commission has not made sufficient progress on it and because the board needs to replace recently retired arboreta department head Francis Ching.