Chicago, IL– On the far-west side of Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory rises like a sparkling regal gem. Built in 1905, it houses 4.5 acres of plants under its glass roof and outside. Sadly, one of its dearest treasures, the famed Fern Room, shattered under a 2011 late June hailstorm. Yesterday, the Fern Room, designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen (1850-1951), reopened.
It is an oasis of calm in the city, with benches for meditating, babbling streams running under footbridges, and fountains softly gurgling. Jensen had the fountains adjusted several times before he deemed the sound just right. But the hailstorm halted all that.
Glass from the storm had to be picked out of the soil and from the roof. In the process of restoring the area, some walls that had been covered by vegetation were revealed for the first time in years.
The Show House and Desert House remain closed due to storm damage.
The conservatory is open 9-5 daily, Wednesdays until 8 pm. Admission is free.