The garden, located behind the historic yellow house and next door to the Frontier House on Center Street, will be formally recognized as an 1812 Bicentennial Honorary Peace Garden during a ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s a people place for peace,” said M. Jacquie Lodico, co-chairman of the garden.

The dedication is part of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 program and will formalize the garden’s inclusion in the Bicentennial Art of Peace Gardens Trail, which spans along the Niagara River coast on both sides of the border. The garden joins others in Youngstown, Buffalo and between, as well as Fort Erie through Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada.

“People are interested in gardening all over the world,” Lodico said. “Now, with this dedication, they can go online and find a map of all of these gardens to see all of these gardens.”

The garden began as a focus on creating green space within the village. The Lewiston Council of the Arts, the Niagara Falls Redevelopment Corporation and the Village of Lewiston banded together to convert a municipally owned parking lot on Center Street into a natural scene.

Then in 2009, while plans were being formalized for the War of 1812 remembrances, a group of eight area gardeners, including Lodico, dedicated themselves to developing the space which is now a place of reflection and seasonal beauty.

The half-acre garden, which is handicap accessible, contains trees, blooming plantings, a fountain, stage, sculptures, tables and benches and washroom facilities. But this past spring, the gardeners decided to plant 1,000 new bulbs to liven the garden, Lodico said.

Saturday’s dedication will feature an unveiling of a plaque, which Lodico has embedded in a stone taken from the Niagara Escarpment. The plaque and stone, however, are already available for viewing, and already drawing visitors in to the garden.

Sharon Watterworth, of Brampton, Ont., and Lesley Haw, of Welland, Ont., both took a moment to pass through the garden while venturing around Lewiston Thursday.

They both said the plaque attracted them to look around, and they liked what they saw.

“It’s very relaxing,” said Haw, who originally hails from England. “We’ve been seeing signs about the War of 1812 in our area as well. And it’s very pretty here.”

For more on the garden and the War of 1812 remembrance, go online to 1812.ipgf.org.