Lon Saavedra has only been walking the grounds of Hakone Gardens for a few weeks. But in his eyes is where the history, beauty and function of the gardens lie, and where its future will be into the next century.
Saavedra has just taken on the job as the Hakone Foundation's executive director--a new position to help establish Hakone Gardens as one of the premiere cultural centers in the Bay Area, if not the country.
"I want to create a cultural, visible magnet and make it well known as a cultural center," Saavedra said, adding that he sees the garden already as the undiscovered "gem of Silicon Valley."
With a rich past both in raising money for similar nonprofit foundations and involving himself in artistic endeavors, Saavedra really does have a vision for Hakone and it's not just about making money via tourist dollars. It's not dollar signs but peace and serenity that are reflected in his eyes when he looks out at the garden.
Saavedra really does have a feeling for the place, and sees it for what it's intended to be. Walking up the steps toward the tea garden and under the boughs of bamboo stalks, Saavedra speaks of Hakone as a place where people caught in the linear, fast-paced world of Silicon Valley can escape to soothe their souls and witness art in nature.
The problem, he said, is that people just don't know of its existence yet.
If Saavedra fulfills his vision, Hakone Gardens will be a place along the same lines as established regional destination museums like the DeYoung and The Tech.
That's fine with longtime employees like master gardener Jack Tomlinson, who said he's excited to have Saavedra working to better the gardens. Tomlinson said he's all for more people appreciating the peacefulness of Hakone.
Saavedra comes to Hakone from the Smithsonian Institution, where he served as the Western Region Director of the National Museum of the American Indian--the Smithsonian's first regional office. Saavedra helped raise money, administer programs and promote a new building, that, when it's built, will be the newest Smithsonian museum along the Capitol Mall in Washington D.C.
Saavedra has also worked for the White House, U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the Stanford University Medical Center.
But touring the gardens with Saavedra is like going through with a newly rejuvenated man. He literally relishes the opportunity to work here and see that the visions spelled out in the garden's master plan become a reality.
"The cultural exchange center has amazing potential. It's a great place to do business. I can foresee building deep ties with other cultural facilities in other areas," Saavedra said.
He supports the plan to return a parking lot that was paved in the '60s back to garden.
And he'd like to find ways to raise more money for the garden, which he says now is just self-supporting thanks to memberships, the small number of weddings and the $5 entrance fee for cars. Hosting more classes, events and conferences at Hakone Gardens might be ways to do it, he said.
And although he talks of making the garden more visible and turning it into an attraction, Saavedra still wants the garden to keep its charm. "Any time you launch a new foundation," Saavedra said, "you try to preserve it without it becoming a theme park."
He continued, "[Hakone] is a place of peace and tranquility, where both nature and art can merge together. There's nothing linear here. It's a great place to be while living in a linear world. You participate here in spirit--it's an elixir for the soul."
Saratoga, California Since 1975
