Interim Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden leader resigns after meth arrest
Art Gallagher, interim executive director of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, has resigned.
He was arrested last week at a Lake Wylie fishing hole for possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, according to police records.
Gaston County Police arrested Gallagher at 3:39 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Allen Fishing Area along The Hot Hole Road near Belmont, according to a police report.
Stowe Botanical Garden lies just across and southwest of a cove on the lake from where the incident occurred.
Gallagher resigned effective Thursday, Feb. 23, according to a statement by Tracy Smith, director of administration at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.
The garden’s board of directors accepted the resignation “with regret,” according to the statement.
“He has served the Garden since September 2021 and has managed his duties at the highest professional level,” garden leaders said in the statement. “We are grateful for his leadership and wish him the best.”
The 71-year-old Gallagher has been a longtime Charlotte community and nonprofit leader.
He was president of the Johnson & Wales University Charlotte campus for 12 years and worked previously with area non-profits and organizations, including Novant Health, the Nevin School, Charlotte Family Housing, Temple Beth-El, and A Child’s Place.
Gallagher didn’t reply to a phone message from The Charlotte Observer.