ALTON - The Oriental Garden at Gordon F. Moore Park was a project envisioned by Dr. Gordon F. Moore himself.
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That vision began its journey into becoming reality in 1984, when Moore asked the assistance of Dr. Sadiq Mohyuddin. Mohyuddin became the chairperson of the Gordon Moore Park Oriental Garden Committee. That committee raised $25,000 for the groundbreaking at the garden, and asked the public's help for the rest. The public responded with an additional $94,000. The Oriental Garden was completed in 1989.
"It took us five years to complete it, but in '89 it was dedicated to the City of Alton," Mohyuddin said. "In 2010, they dedicated this bench from the City of Alton, but then the gazebo began deteriorating."
Mohyuddin proudly sat upon a red marble bench featuring his name, which was a gift from the city. On Saturday, at the rededication of that once-deteriorating gazebo, Mohyuddin received a gold medal from Alton.
"I'm very pleased with these new gazebo," he said. "It was made in Pennsylvania by an Amish colony, so it was all made in the U.S.A., no imports. This was just installed three weeks ago. The City of Alton has been very gracious to me, and they are honoring me and my wife with a gold medal for our 32 years of working."
Dr. Mohyuddin's wife, Talat Mohyuddin also serves on the committee.
Committee secretary Peggy Tavernier said many improvements have been done on the garden over the course of the last two years. She said the committee was able to raise $12,500 over those years, and have recently added as much as $6,000 to it.
"We're trying to reach a goal of $20,000 by spring of next year," she said.
At the rededication ceremony Saturday, Sisters of St. Francis nuns led a prayer before a welcome address by Alton Mayor Brant Walker. Before his address, Walker said the day could not have been better for such a dedication.
"We could not have picked a better day for this," he said. "This is part of Alton coming together. This is what we can do when the city works with the community to give people a better place to live."
Walker was astonished by the coy fish swimming in the garden's central pool and fountain area. The fish swimming in the pool are descendants from the original fish stocked in 1989.
"We asked Dr. Mohyuddin if we needed any money to restock the fish, but I guess we don't," he said. "Those fish are pretty tough."
Tavernier said the fountain in that pool was recently repaired by the city as part of this administration's mission to fix the several broken water features throughout Alton.
After his address, Walker presented the medal to the Mohyuddins.
Horticulture Supervisor of the Japanese and South Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens Ben Chu spoke after Sadiq Mohyuddin's acceptance remarks. Chu spoke about the many varieties of plants placed in the garden, including several Japanese cherry trees.
Alton Parks and Rec Director Michael Haynes also spoke before the waterfall was started and blessed by Buddhist Reverend Daigaku Rumme.
The presentation was closed by prayers led by the Sisters of St. Francis.
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