Solid Roots Keep Growing

A public/private partnership at Garfield Park Conservatory revives an institution and sheds a bright light on Chicago's West Side

BY DR. LISA ROBERTS AND EUNITA RUSHING

When Garfield Park Conservatory fell on hard times, nobody really knew just what measures would be needed to bring the 93-year-old institution back to life. Once a center of culture and horticulture in the city of Chicago, its flower shows attracted tens of thousands of visitors on a single weekend in the 1930s and 1940s. Fifty years later, the facility had fallen into disrepair, the plant collections were overgrown and infested, and the visitors had all but disappeared. It was still one of the largest conservatories in the nation, housing rare and important plant specimens; but it had become a ghost town. Something had to be done.

That something turned out to be a two-pronged rescue plan launched in the mid-1990s. On the maintenance side, the Chicago Park District, which owned and managed the conservatory, developed a master plan for the aging facility and announced an $8 million capital improvement program to begin restoration of the display houses. On the public side, a task force was convened representing some 80 community, educational, and greening organizations to discuss how to get people to the conservatory again. The result was the birth of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and funding programs, visitor services, and community relations at the conservatory.

The Alliance came about through a new urban parks initiative piloted in several cities across the nation. Funded by the Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Fund, the initiative sought to rejuvenate urban parks through creative partnerships between the public and private sector. The idea behind the project was that public and private agencies each have characteristic strengths and weaknesses in terms of resources, organizational capacity, public image, and constituent support; and that by joining together, their strengths would be multiplied and weaknesses offset. So it was that the Chicago Park District and the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance teamed-up to pilot a new model for managing, financing, and programming the conservatory.

The need is great and the resources limited, but the mission is strong, and involves nothing short of establishing the conservatory as the center for urban horticulture in Chicago.

The division of labor was fairly straightforward. The park district would be responsible for the physical side of the conservatory: restoration and maintenance, plant collections, security, and general upkeep. The Alliance would take responsibility for the public dimension: education, public programs, community relations. There were some gray areas, of course, most significantly in the arenas of marketing and fundraising. But these were dealt with in an open and cooperative fashion.

The results have been dramatic. In six short years, attendance has gone from a mere trickle up to nearing 200,000 in 2001. Despite limited marketing resources, many successes have been achieved through innovative programming and partnerships, including:

• Hands-on educational programs and school tours using the plant collection and the children's garden exhibit "Plants Alive;"

• Hands-on gardening workshops geared for both novice and more experienced gardeners such as demonstrating how to build gardens in urban areas and what plant materials are most acclimated to the region;

• Community participation in program development highlighting areas of interest and significance from their viewpoint; and

• Increased volunteer support in every aspect of the programs including horticulture, education and special events.

Partnering, the cornerstone of the Alliance philosophy, has led to numerous collaborations with other greening organizations such as the University of Illinois' Extension Programs Master Gardeners, Openlands Project and the city of Chicago's GreenNet coalition. The partnerships have helped increase programming opportunities, assisted with cross-promotional marketing and rounded out the resources

10 Illinois Parks and Recreation

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PARTNERSHIPS

Mayor Daley helps cut the ribbon, appropriately made of grapevine, For the Garfield Park Conservatory's Elizabeth Morse Genius Children's Garden. Photo by Brook Collins.

available to visitors. Working together the organizations have been able to successfully complete a number of accomplishments including a $500,000 Demonstration Garden capital campaign, a Chocolate Fest in its third year, and a new "Conservatory L" stop on the Chicago Transit Authority's Green Line. A recent highlight is the popular "Chihuly in the Park: A Garden of Glass" exhibit presented in cooperation with The Boeing Company, featuring the works of famed glass artist Dale Chihuly displayed in the lush, green landscapes of the conservatory.

The success of all of these programs, especially the Demonstration Garden, relies heavily on our ability to solicit volunteer support, assistance from partners and community participation. The Alliance and the park district have been very thoughtful and creative in implementing programs that have broad appeal to the local community, the greater metropolitan area and visiting

This is not to say that it's all been smooth sailing; far from it. Birthing a new organization, inventing systems and creating infrastructure, negotiating what is in effect an arranged marriage between a small, young nonprofit and a large, bureaucratic government agency—these are the challenges that go largely unseen. And they have required open communication and shared compromises to manage successfully. But the gains to be had are enormous, and go far beyond specific accomplishments such as those listed on page 10. Public/private partnerships bring together the assets—and also the liabilities—of two different worlds to achieve something that neither could do in quite the same way alone. Two benefits in particular are worth mentioning: building community support and leveraging funding.

Community Support and Fundraising

The community that we focus on primarily is the one where we reside here on the city's West Side. The challenge is great when any organization introduces new programs or programs where none previously existed. Our challenge is compounded by the fact that for many years the conservatory has been viewed as separate from the Garfield Park proper and, in reality, physically divided from the rest of the park by an elevated train. For years, the community has felt unwelcome in the conservatory for many reasons, both real and imagined. The conservatory is committed to changing those perceptions, and the Alliance has provided a mechanism for making the conservatory a vital and integral part of the community by giving them a voice at every level of the Alliance's operation.

The community is represented on the Board of Directors of the Alliance and has a separate forum through its own board committee. The Community Relations Committee is an integral part of decision-making processes functioning both as an autonomous committee and as a representative of community issues on other board committees.

On the fundraising front, the Alliance has made it possible to raise funds for the conservatory, which might not otherwise be available to it. Over the last six years, the Alliance has been able to leverage the park district's own substantial contribution to raise an additional $4 million in private funding. The social and economic challenges that the West Side community faces have been instrumental in this task. Fundraising for the conservatory not only helps the institution itself, but plays a role in catalyzing the growth and rebirth of the west side as a whole.

In summary, public/private partnership has brought us a long way in a short time; but there are miles yet to go before we can truly state that we have arrived. The need is great and the resources limited, but the mission is strong, and involves nothing short of establishing the conservatory as the center for urban horticulture in Chicago. The collective staffs of the two partners bring a level of commitment and expertise, which is unparalleled.

The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners and the Alliance Board of Directors are each committed to the evolution of the conservatory as a community icon on the West Side, supporting our efforts on every level. It is our collective belief that the conservatory, its collection, and its programs are vital to the community at-large and to the families of students, teachers, and parents and business constituents who are our neighbors. Together, the park district, the Alliance, the community, and all of our many partners can bring about positive change and strengthened purpose and direction here on the West Side of Chicago.

DR. LISA ROBERTS is director of Conservatories for the Chicago Park District.

EUNITA RUSHING is the executive director of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance.

Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Avenue, is open 9:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. For more information call 312.746.5100. The Garfield Park Conservatory is owned and managed by the Chicago Park District. The Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the funding and development of programs and visitor services for the Conservatory.

July/August 2002 11

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