See the Sibley Horticultural Center at Callaway Gardens for free before it closes

Callaway Gardens will admit all guests for free this Friday in honor of the birthday of founder Cason J. Callaway.

There will be an organ concert from noon to 4 p.m. at the Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel to mark the occasion, according to a release. The concert will be played on a custom-built Möller pipe organ in a chapel that was designed and built as a tribute to Ida.

The day calendar on the website also lists a free birds of prey show featuring owls, hawks and other raptors at 10:30 a.m.

There will also be a classic Southern buffet between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. at The Plant Room Restaurant. Cost to attend is $25.95 per adult and $12.50 per child ages 6-10. Children 5 and under are free.

The free admission comes just days before Callaway Gardens' planned closure of the Sibley Horticultural Center.

"The closure of the Sibley Horticultural Center is a measure that allows us to focus on a better gardens experience and put the polish on another jewel, the Day Butterfly Center,” said William "Bill" Doyle III, president and CEO. “That work is already under way, with measurable progress by mid- to late-November. Guests should mark their calendars to visit this spring to see the new, colorful displays.”

Mr. Cason's Vegetable Garden has already been closed, apparently to be relocated. It and the Sibley Center have long histories at Callaway Gardens, which was founded out of farm and forest lands in 1952 by Cason J. and Virginia Hand Callaway.

The Sibley Center is located on five ares and was built with private donations. It uses 300 tons of Tennessee fieldstone, 7,000 glass blocks and 26 folding doors. Each door is 24 feet tall and weighs 1,600 pounds. There is also a 22-foot waterfall with 350 gallons of water cascading downward each minute.

The facility, at one time marketed by Callaway Gardens as “one of the most advanced garden/greenhouse complexes in the world,” is about 22,000 square feet, with an additional 30,000 square feet of greenhouse production space. The complex, with floral and plant displays inside and out, underwent a $3.5 million renovation in 2003.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 4:15 PM with the headline "See the Sibley Horticultural Center at Callaway Gardens for free before it closes."