Grand Reopening of the Garfield Park Conservatory

We didn't make it to the Grand Reopening day at the conservatory, but it was pretty close. We went two days ago.

It was June 2011 when a hailstorm hit the conservatory and a giant shard of glass plummeted down from the see-through roof.  Thus the need for a long-term renovation.

According to a Tribune writer: "The reopening celebration...had a high school band and chorus play.  Public words were spoken.  The waterfalls at the end of the Fern Room were turned on, a ceremony that might be termed a nature-lover's equivalent of a ribbon cutting.

The Fern Room and the Desert House were the last two rooms to reopen in the year long restoration.  You might not remember the Fern Room.  It's been a few years.  But the room has always been an extraordinary thing in its northern, urban setting, conservatory designer Jens Jensen's vision of what primordial Illinois was like.  So it is warm, kept at 70-some degrees, and dank, with moisture in the air provided by the central pond and waterfalls.  It is mossy and rocky, and it's got brick pathways that immerse you in the environment that feels tropical and cultivated in a manner that suggests the plants are in charge."  Garfield Park Conservatory   Here are some photos.  Pretty darn spectacular!

I'll start with the Fern Room

Here is the room that celebrates spring with a yellow umbrella theme.

And additional conservatory rooms.