Garfield Park Conservatory — Attraction in West Chicago Township

The conservatory is an amazing place and I have visited multiple times, always donating when I did. I actually enjoyed the feeling of generosity when donating. I used to take family from out of town to visit when they came in as well. However, the Conservatory is now charging a mandatory admission fee for non-Chicago residents (replacing the suggested donation model). Adults who are not Chicago residents will now have to pay $10 to enter the conservatory. As a subscriber to their newsletter, it was especially off-putting when they phrased the news of this change as something they were "excited" about. Making access to their facility more restrictive (particularly to those of limited means) isn't something to be "excited" about, in my opinion. It will now cost a non-resident family of 4 with 2 children over 7 years of age $30 to visit the Conservatory (children 7-17 cost $5 now).

I think it's a mistake, but the Chicago Park District and the Conservatory Alliance have every right to do what they want with the Conservatory, including making it less accessible to those outside the city and less desirable as a tourism destination. It will be interesting to see how much that affects the surrounding west side economy and that of the city in general. I don't know how many people were like me and made the trip in specifically for the Conservatory.

They say it's due to increased numbers of visitors since the pandemic. Charging $10 to enter should solve that problem quickly. Having been there multiple times before, $10 to see what is largely the same thing I've seen before just isn't worth driving all the way into the city for. It was good while it lasted. Good luck to them and I hope all the residents continue to enjoy it, but I have likely visited for the last time. Thanks for the memories🥲. For anyone interested, it would have been a 5 star review if not for this...

This place was completely mind blowing. It is very huge and filled with amazing wonders to explore. This place has many different sections of plants types and its specific environment. For example they had a cactus section which I personally thought was the coolest. They had plants from all over the world like Africa, Asia, Europe and much more. They also had endangered species of plants which is really cool that they are very thoughtful of protecting it. The place is also very spacious while it is filled with many amazing plants. Also if you are wondering if the area is safe or dangerous. I honestly can’t explain how safe this area is. This place has many nice people and there are kids having fun running around at the place. Going back to the topic. This place also has many kid friendly places like slides, seating areas, cool little walkways, and cool sculptures they can look at and explore. Another thing is that this place is filled with cool figurines if you can find them for example a dinosaur with army soldiers which is honestly pretty cool and creative. Also this place has lots of fish and turtles which is very adorable. Another thing this place is completely free to visit. You can just walk in look around and leave which very amazing and I am very happy for. This place also has an outside garden which is as cool as the outside one. Also near the end of the inside part there are old pictures from when this place was built. Like a little history story. But it is really cool and interesting. So I would completely recommend you to go to this place even if you live far away. Amazing place...

I almost cried when I first walked in, surrounded by such a vast assortment of carefully adored plants. I guess I’m a huge plant nerd. Experiencing the quiet power of such a wide variety of life taking root to define the structure is a sensory adventure of sight, smell, and touch. The decades of history each species has absorbed stretches, curls, and unfurls all the way to the ceiling, encapsulating you within their world as welcome friends to curiosity. It’s a sacred space to experience small pieces of our enormous world through the outstretched leaves of creatures so much older than our imaginations quest to comprehend. If you look really closely the best parts of all can be the tiny moments of silliness sprinkled throughout; a tiny toy tyrannosaur peeking through fronds, a portly desert potted plant gazing back at you with its googly eye, a neon orange plastic giraffe posed as if perusing the well watered display for an afternoon snack. There’s enormous opportunity for education, particularly with regard to native flora and promotion of environmental care. Monarch butterflies, for example, are incredible yet endangered beings and their host plant, milkweed, grows in over 30 different beautiful varieties as their food source. Different plants are best suited for importantly different parts of our world, and people and pollinators deserve to appreciate and take part in our lived symbiosis. This is a wonder filled place for...