Garfield Park Conservatory nets $17,000 in plant sale

11/09/2011 10:00 PM


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$17,000 isn’t a bad return on a tropical plant sale.

But in the case of the Garfield Park Conservatory, that amount only scratches the surface in what’s needed to clean up the storm-damaged, West Side botanic garden.

The Oct. 22 plant sale to raise money for conservatory, 300 N. Central Park, was a nice haul but is just a fraction of the estimated $2 million needed to simply clean up the shattered glass leftover from a June 30 hailstorm.

The conservatory decided to sell some of its tropical plants to help pay for the repairs, but also to save the rare specimens. Despite large repair costs, the plant sale was still considered a success.

Finding shelter for the tropical plants before winter was the number one priority, explained Mary Eysenbach, director of conservatories for the Chicago Park District.

“Every single plant was gone,” she said, following the sale.

Although 60 percent of the conservatory was damaged in the hailstorm, the undamaged rooms remain open, and some of the closed spaces will reopen soon.


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By Will from West side
Posted: 11/10/2011 4:10 PM

I'm happy to see that Chicagoans stepped up to help one the Far West sides jewels.