CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three years after a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student lost her life, her father said he can feel her spirit and energy alive again.
“It is hard to convey how much of her energy is in here,” Tim Rogers said, standing in the new sensory garden named in his daughter’s honor Saturday.
On Saturday, UNCC unveiled the Polly Rogers Memorial Sensory Garden. The garden was built to celebrate the life of Polly Rogers, who died after falling from the window of a party bus on Tryon Street in May 2018.
“There have been no words since May of 2018, but there has been a lot of energy and a lot of love and devotion,” Tim Rogers said.
Polly Rogers was a special education student at UNCC. The garden was designed to be a place where people of all abilities can come, reflect and engage with nature.
Jeff Gillman, the Director of the Botanical Gardens where the memorial garden is situated called it “the most personal” project he has had the privilege to work on.
“We built this garden based upon what we perceived to be her spirit and we always did it in concert with her family,” Gillman said. “In doing that it was always a very enriching experience. At times it was a difficult experience, but what we came up with is a garden that we think, that we hope Polly herself would have really enjoyed and would have had a lot of fun in.”
Gillman said the garden was designed to engage and stimulate all the senses through plantings and interactive elements, nestled in a forested portion of the Gardens adjacent to a stream. They also added a lot of color and whimsical touches to celebrate Polly Roger’s fun side.
“Coming into the garden and being delighted and surprised by all the little elements by how Polly they are,” Tim Rogers said.
Polly's memorial garden is located in the Van Landingham Glen area of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens. The garden may be accessed through the trails in the Glen or through the fully wheelchair-accessible Bonnie Cone gated entrance on Mary Alexander Road.
Contact Tanya Mendis at tmendis@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.