the belle isle conservatory was built in 1904, designed by architect albert kahn, and rebuilt 1952-1954 with aluminum replacing its original wooden beams. in 1953, it was named in honor of anna scripps whitcomb, who left her 600-plant orchid collection to the city. thanks to her gift and subsequent donations, the conservatory is now home to one of the largest municipally-owned orchid collections in the united states. rare orchids were saved from great britain during the world war ii bombing and transported to the anna scripps whitcomb conservatory. due to a lack of maintenance and budget cuts in recent years, the vast majority of orchids have now died.