Oak Park Conservatory
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Oak Park Conservatory
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| Location | 615 Garfield St., Oak Park, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 41°52′17″N 87°47′22″W / 41.87139°N 87.78944°WCoordinates: 41°52′17″N 87°47′22″W / 41.87139°N 87.78944°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1929 |
| Built by | Foley Greenhouse Manufacturing Co. |
| Architectural style | Edwardian Glasshouse |
| NRHP Reference # | 04001298 |
| Added to NRHP | March 8, 2005 |
Oak Park Conservatory is a conservatory and botanical garden located at 615 Garfield Street in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. It is open daily with restricted hours; admission is free, but a donation is suggested.
The conservatory started in 1914, as a community effort to house exotic plants collected during residents' travels. Today's Edwardian-style glass structure was built in 1929, but fell into neglect until 1970, when a group of concerned citizens preserved it. Debate in the community had some suggesting the site would make "a perfect parking lot", but the volunteer actions of the Citizens Committee for the Conservatory saved it from that fate. In addition to its role supplying plants throughout the parks of Oak Park, the Conservatory's role was expanded to be a place to educate school children and gardeners. The structure was expanded in 2000. The conservatory now provides 8,000 square feet (700 m2) of growing areas, making it the third largest conservatory in the Chicago area, and contains more than 3,000 plants, some of which date back to 1914. The Oak Park Conservatory was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 2005.
The desert collection includes three cactus groups (Cereus, Opuntia, and Pereskia), plus succulents including Agave, Crassula, succulent euphorbias, Gasteria, Haworthia, and Kalanchoe. Woody plants in this room include olive, etrog, fig, date palm, bay, and pomegranate.
The conservatory's orchids and ferns collection holds orchids, Australian tree ferns and other tropic and sub-tropic fern species, as well as begonias, Clivia, Ponderosa lemon, sea grape, Strelitzia reginae, and Syzygium. The rainforest collection includes Anthurium, aroids, banana, cycads, dracaenas, ferns, fig trees, Monstera deliciosa, palms (lady, fishtail, fan, and Canary Island date), papaya, Peperomia, Pilea, spider plants, as well as a pond with koi, goldfish, and turtles.
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