The Queens Botanical Garden began as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens. After the fair, the garden expanded to take up a larger portion of Flushing Meadows Park. When work begun on construction of the 1964 World's Fair, the garden was moved to a site across the street from Flushing Meadows Park to a location atop the stream bed of Kissena Creek. The construction cost of the center amounted $12 million.