The Conservatory & Interpretive Center

This impressive building is directly across from the tastefully landscaped Sunken Garden and houses a restaurant, gift shop, horticulture library and most importantly, The Conservatory.

One of the newest and most-visited buildings in the Peace Garden, the Conservatory is home to the Vitko Collection, one of the world’s most diverse indoor collections of cacti and succulents. It is named for longtime Minot resident Don Vitko, who amassed his 5,000+ species collection over 50 years before donating it to the Garden in 2010. The collection, which includes a number of rare and endangered species from all over the world, provides a powerful platform for teaching about the importance of conservation. These lessons align with the mission of the Garden, as conservation is a form of promoting peace – valuing and protecting living things and working to create a sustainable environment so they can thrive. The Conservatory building also houses a horticulture library, a restaurant, and a gift shop featuring local art and collectibles.

Renovating and expanding the Conservatory complex is a top priority for the International Peace Garden campaign.

The planned improvements include: 

•  Doubling the exhibit space to display and properly care for the Vitko Collection and offer interpretive features, art exhibits and seasonal shows to enhance the visitor experience.
• Providing a beautiful, all-season interior landscape that will make the Conservatory a year-round destination.
• Creating an optimal microclimate to maintain and preserve the diverse collection through improvements to the facility’s infrastructure and mechanicals, including a transition to more efficient and sustainable energy sources.
• Re-imagining the existing restaurant and patio as a healthy farm-to-table casual dining experience with an upgraded kitchen, direct access to the patio from the restaurant and a take-out window to make customer flow more efficient.
• Adding attractive indoor and outdoor rental spaces for weddings, events, meetings and programs, as well as smaller gatherings.
• Renovate two outdoor event plazas adjacent to the Conservatory so they can be rented out for large events and enhance the café dining experience for daily visitors.