Hail storm closes Garfield Park Conservatory

Garfield Park Conservatory damaged by hail storm

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  Garfield Park Conservatory Production House

  Photo: Matt Barrettproduction_house_hail_damage_2011.jpg148361951
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  Garfield Park Conservatory Fern Room

  Photo: Matt Barrettfern_room_hail_damage_2011.jpg148361932
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  The Garfield Park Conservatory's Show House was damaged by hail.

  Photo: Matt Barrettshow_house_hail_damage_2011.jpg148361913

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Garfield Park Conservatory Production House

Photo: Matt Barrett

Damage from last night's hail storm forced the Garfield Park Conservatory to close its doors until further notice.

"The destruction is devastating," says Chicago Park District assistant press secretary Zvezdana Kubat. Shards of glass, caused by hail falling through the glass ceiling, wreaked havoc on the Fern Room, Show Room and Desert House. Ten production houses—where the conservatory's plant life is propagated—also faced damage.

Kubat couldn't offer a re-opening date. "Perhaps we could barricade off areas that were hit the hardest and grant access to unharmed areas. Of course, this is all brainstorming," she says.

Donations are accepted at garfield-conservatory.org.