Science & Nature

Lurie Garden Skipping Spring, Closing for Repairs Through July

Lurie Garden, one of downtown Chicago’s premier green spaces, will be closed to the public beginning Monday through early July.

Major repairs to the garden’s water feature and boardwalk are set to get underway. For the safety of visitors, the garden won’t reopen until the project is completed, according to garden management, which spread the news online.

Despite its relatively small footprint of 2.5 acres, Lurie Garden, situated at the southeast end of Millennium Park, has played a highly influential role in promoting a less formal style of planting among everyone from landscape architects to home gardeners.

Its “new wave” planting style is the hallmark of Dutch designer Piet Oudolf and represented his first commission in North America.

The garden opened in July 2004 and is managed by the Millennium Park Foundation, not the Chicago Park District. Ongoing care and maintenance, including the current repair, are supported by the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation Endowment.

Repairs are being made to the “Seam,” the boardwalk that runs through the center of Lurie Garden. (Alesia D / iStock)

The boardwalk — called the Seam — divides the garden into the “Light Plate” on the west, where plants thrive in full sun, and the “Dark Plate” on the east, which embraces shade-loving plants.

The wooden boardwalk, running over a sliver of water, is meant to echo the early sidewalks that lifted Chicago out of its original marshy landscape.

“Once restored, the Seam will again invite visitors to sit and dangle their feet in the cool water,” officials said.

Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]

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