April 20--Four years after its antique glass roof was devastated by a powerful hailstorm, Garfield Park Conservatory will reopen in full to the public Wednesday with an Earth Day celebration.
The Fern Room and Desert House, the last of the rooms in the 1908 building on the West Side to undergo new glass installation, have been restored.
And with new, double-paned glass taking the place of the 1940 glass that succumbed to a June 2011 overnight hailstorm, the building is expected to be able to handle future meteorological challenges. Along the way, other improvements were made to the landmark property Jens Jensen designed to resemble Midwestern haystacks.
Total cost of the rehab was more than $15 million.
There'll be a Family Day Celebration Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. But before that comes Wednesday's Grand Reopening, beginning at 9 a.m.
Throughout the day, there will be tours. At 9:30 a.m. the George Westinghouse College Preparatory High School Choir and Concert Band will perform. And a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting will mark the official reopening of the Fern Room Waterfall, a centerpiece of the room that is the centerpiece of the conservatory.
Further details can be found at garfieldconservatory.org.
sajohnson@tribpub.com
