Mary E. Bivins Tropical Conservatory (Amarillo Botanical Gardens)

The conservatory continues the story of a horticultural centre born of garden clubs. In 1954 the city leased Memorial Park's Shelter House to the clubs; in 1955 thirteen clubs founded the Amarillo Council of Garden Clubs, which aimed to create a public garden centre. After a fundraising campaign, work on the Amarillo Garden Center began in 1967 on land in Medical Center Park leased from the city; the building, which cost about $300,000, was completed in April 1968 and dedicated on 17 November 1968. Jackie Wilson, hired as executive director in October 1992, led the organisation's transformation; on 17 December 1996 it became the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, and the building was renovated and extended (gallery, new entrance, courtyard) until summer 2001.

It was during this period that the board studied building a greenhouse-type facility on additional land leased from the city; the project became the Mary E. Bivins Tropical Conservatory. Ground was broken in August 2003 and the structure was completed in June 2004. The staff, with others working under their supervision, then designed and installed the rain forest, and planted it; the official public opening took place in June 2006. The name honours Mary E. Bivins, a local philanthropist whom a 2019 garden guide describes as the wife of Lee, one of the world's largest cattle operators in the early twentieth century.

The conservatory is a glazed pyramid: visitor guides speak of a "glass pyramid" and of a pyramid-shaped glass structure. It covers about 6,000 square feet, nearly 560 square metres, on the additional land the city leased to the gardens for this purpose. The building is presented as a "green building", a self-sufficient structure using as little energy as possible.

The project ran in two stages: the structure was completed in June 2004, then the garden's staff designed and installed the rain forest inside it before the 2006 opening. A waterfall and a fish pond structure the route, in humid air where mist rises, according to a travel guide. At the back, at the foot of the terrace, one corner of the conservatory shelters a small Little Free Library, in the terraced part of the gardens.

The heart of the conservatory is a re-created tropical rain forest, planted with tropical vegetation by the garden's staff after the building was completed. Visitor guides mention orchids and other rain-forest plants, an indoor waterfall and a pond where fish swim. They also name two residents: Stan, a singing tree frog, and Cracker, a young macaw; a travel account more generally evokes birds walking along the paths.

The conservatory stands at the centre of a compact 4.4-acre garden (about 1.8 hectares) in Medical Center Park, around which terraced themed gardens are arranged: including the Wagner Japanese Garden and the Harrington Fragrance Garden, a xeric garden and a butterfly garden, according to tourist guides. The visit is self-guided, and the site is wheelchair-accessible according to the garden's visit page. The interior contrasts with the dry, windy and hot climate of the American Southwest, according to a group-tour guide. The association's history also mentions the summer Music in the Gardens series, launched under Jackie Wilson's directorship; its current programme was not verified.