Garfield Park Conservatory
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Garfield Park Conservatory, located in Garfield Park in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, is one of the largest greenhouse conservatories in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Often referred to as "landscape art under glass", the Garfield Park Conservatory occupies approximately inside and out and contains a number of permanent plant exhibits incorporating specimens from around the world, including some
cycads Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...
that are over 200 years old. Along with the
Lincoln Park Conservatory The Lincoln Park Conservatory (1.2 ha / 3 acres) is a conservatory and botanical garden in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. The conservatory is located at 2391 North Stockton Drive just south of Fullerton Avenue, west of Lake Shore Drive, and ...
on Chicago's north side, the Garfield Park Conservatory provides significant horticultural collections, educational programs and community outreach efforts.


Conservatory history

In the late 19th century, each of the three large West Side parks had its own small conservatory and propagation greenhouses. After 20 years of use, these conservatories had fallen into a state of disrepair and had become obsolete. In 1905, Chicago's West Park Commission's general superintendent and chief landscape architect,
Jens Jensen Jens Jensen may refer to: * Jens Jensen (footballer) (1890–1957), Danish football (soccer) player who played one game for the Denmark national football team * Jens Jensen (landscape architect) (1860–1951), Danish-born landscape architect in Chi ...
, demolished the three smaller greenhouses in Humboldt, Douglass, and Garfield parks to create what was intended as "the largest publicly owned conservatory under one roof in the world" in Garfield Park. Many of the original plantings came from the three smaller Westside conservatories. Constructed between 1906 and 1907, the Garfield Park Conservatory was designed by Jensen in collaboration with
Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...
architects
Schmidt, Garden and Martin Richard Ernest Schmidt (14.11.1865–17.10.1958) was an American architect, a member of the so-called first Chicago School and a near-contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Life Schmidt was born in Ebern, Bavaria and brought ...
and the New York engineering firm of Hitchings and Company. It represents a unique collaboration of architects, engineers, landscape architects, sculptors, and artisans. Jensen conceived the conservatory as a series of naturalistic landscapes under glass, a revolutionary idea at the time. The simple yet strong shape of the structure, which is meant to emulate the haystacks of the Midwest, complements the collection of plants and foliage that it houses. Today, the conservatory still follows the original tenets of Jensen. One of the most popular rooms is the first presented to visitors, the Palm Room. In it are over 7 dozen varieties of
palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...
s of the over 2,700 varieties known to exist today. Of particular importance is the double coconut palm, first grown by employees of the conservatory in 1959. The double coconut palm is found only off the coast of South Africa in its native environment and produces what is believed to be the largest seed of any plant in the world, weighing up to . The double coconut palm at the conservatory died of currently unknown causes in February 2012. Because of the species' rarity in the wild, and the challenges of cultivation, it is not expected to be replaced. After many decades of neglect, the conservatory underwent a multimillion-dollar restoration in 1994. The non-profit Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance formed to help maintain the structure and provide programs and services for visitors. In a
hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
storm on the night of June 30, 2011, the conservatory suffered catastrophic damage to glass in showrooms as well as production houses where plants are grown or stored. Five recently renovated showrooms contained
laminated glass Laminated glass (LG) is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered. In the event of breaking, it is held in place by a thin polymer interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), lonoplast polymer ...
and therefore sustained less damage. Some areas reopened to the public July 3. The Fern Room reopened December 1, 2011, and the remaining areas opened January 24, 2012. To help raise money for the repairs local artist Bryan Northup created, and the Conservatory sold, limited-edition bowls out of the broken glass. In 2012, the conservatory won the ''National Medal for Museum and Library Services.'' The Garfield Park Conservatory is also known to be a place where peopl
have illegally abandoned their pets
often lizard and other reptiles. Staff try to rescue them and are sometimes successful at capturing them and connecting them with local animal rescue groups, but oftentimes the animals end up dying of exposure or starvation according to staff. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, Garfield Park Conservatory was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
Illinois component (AIA Illinois).


Exhibits

File:Coco de Mer seed in incubation at Garfield park conservatory 2014.jpg, An endangered
coco de mer Coco commonly refers to: * Coco (folklore), a mythical bogeyman in many Hispano- and Lusophone nations Coco may also refer to: People * Coco (given name), a first name, its shorthand, or unrelated nickname * Coco (surname), a list of people w ...
seed in incubation at Garfield Park Conservatory in 2014 File:Mother-in-law tongue plant.jpg, A
mother-in-law's tongue ''Dracaena trifasciata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to tropical West Africa from Nigeria east to the Congo. It is most commonly known as the snake plant, Saint George's sword, mother-in-law's tongue, and ...
File:Kalanchoe orgyalis Garfield Park.jpg, ''
Kalanchoe orgyalis ''Kalanchoe orgyalis'' a species of flowering plant in the Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characteriz ...
'' File:Welwitschia mirabilis Garfield Park Chicago.jpg, ''
Welwitschia mirabilis ''Welwitschia'' is a monotypic gymnosperm genus, comprising solely the distinctive ''Welwitschia mirabilis'', endemic to the Namib desert within Namibia and Angola. ''Welwitschia'' is the only living genus of the family Welwitschiaceae and orde ...
'' File:Voncervatory.jpg, Palm File:Conservatory palms.jpg, Cycads and ferns File:Garfield Park Conservatory Water Lily Pond.jpg, Garfield Park Conservatory Water Lily Pond File:Conservatory garden.jpg, Living wall display at the conservatory File:Garfield park conservatory Chicago marker.jpg, A marker


Other pictures

File:Wide angle view.jpg, inside the conservatory File:19970615 03 Garfield Park Conservatory.jpg, Garfield Park Conservatory Cactus Room (now Desert House), June 15, 1997 File:Gift from morocco.jpg, A traditional Moroccan fountain inside the conservatory File:Fountain view.jpg, inside the Conservatory Palm House File:Conservatorypeeking.jpg, A lush haven for visitors


See also

*
List of botanical gardens in the United States This list is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States.List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago The city of Chicago, Illinois, has many cultural institutions and museums, large and small. Major cultural institutions include: *the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Lyric Opera of Chica ...


References


External links

*
Chicago Park District: GPC page2012 Medal Winner: Garfield Park Conservatory (video)Garfield Park ConservatorySociety of Architectural Historians SAH ARCHIPEDIA entry on Garfield Park Conservatory
{{coord, 41, 53, 11, N, 87, 43, 2, W, display=title Botanical gardens in Illinois Parks in Chicago Tourist attractions in Chicago Buildings and structures in Chicago Greenhouses in Illinois 1880s establishments in Illinois