Lurie Garden, Chicago

Urban Park

Lurie Garden in Millennium Park combines naturalistic plantings and ecologically sensitive maintenance practices to create an urban oasis for city dwellers and wildlife alike.

Lurie Garden is supported by a $10 million endowment gift, made to the Millennium Park Foundation, by the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation. Lurie Garden is part of Millennium Park and the Garden’s horticultural management and operations is the responsibility of the Millennium Park Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the stewardship of Millennium Park.

Environmental

• Reduced stormwater runoff by 60%, or nearly 100,000 gallons annually, by converting the old surface parking lot into a garden that is 66% pervious. This eliminated the need for an onsite stormwater detention facility, saving an estimated $159,000.
• Saves $17,800 in annual irrigation costs (890,000 gallons of water) by using native and adaptive plants instead of the turf and concrete path design outlined in the site’s original master plan.
• Attracts more than 27 species of birds, according to counts by garden staff, along with butterflies and bees in the 2 acres of habitat with over 60% native Midwestern plant species.
• Sequesters over 55 tons of carbon annually in 46 new shade trees and the more than 1,600 trees that comprise the large shoulder hedge.

Social

• Is a significant tourist destination within Millennium Park, which was visited by 4 million people from 21 countries in 2009.
• Provides workshops for adults and families, guided walks, and other educational opportunities to nearly 10,000 visitors annually.

Economic

• Contributes to Millennium Park’s $2.6 billion in projected visitor spending and $1.4 billion in projected residential development between 2005 and 2015.

The Lurie Garden at Millennium Park | Landscape Performance Series

The garden is the result of an invited international competition that occurred from August to October 2000. Following the contest the garden was commissioned in October 2000 and completed in June 2004.

Seattle-based landscape architecture firm GGN and Israel, a renowned lighting and set designer, determined the thematic concepts such as the placement of paths and the shapes of perennial beds. Oudolf, a Dutch perennial plantsman, designed the flower beds which contain 26,000 perennial plants in 250 varieties native to the prairie. The garden is designed with four primary components: the shoulder hedge, the light plate, the dark plate and the seam boardwalk.

Designers - Lurie Garden

info@luriegarden.org

• 2017 Best Continued Use Award by Friends of Downtown
• Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation
• Certified Butterfly Garden by North American Butterfly Association
• Certified as a Certified Butterfly Garden by the North American Butterfly Association
• Certified Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch
• Illinois Landscape Contractors Association Gold Award for Excellence, 2009
• Award of Excellence in General Design, American Society of Landscape Architects, Oct. 6, 2008
• Institute Honor Awards for Regional & Urban Design, American Institute of Architects, 2006
• Best Public Space Award, Travel & Leisure magazine, 2005
• Intensive Industrial Award, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, 2005
• Award of Honor, WASLA Professional Awards, 2005

Lurie Garden is an urban model of responsible horticulture, providing a healthy habitat for a wide variety of plants and wildlife.

Lurie Garden is managed using a combination of traditional gardening knowledge and forward-thinking ecological concepts. A dedicated group of horticulturists and volunteers manage the beauty, design integrity, and biodiversity of the garden.

Essentially a rooftop garden, Millennium Park and Lurie Garden are situated over a network of underground parking garages, pedways, and commuter electric train lines. This unique engineering and location situation presents special, but manageable, plant care challenges.

The garden contains approximately 350 types of plants within its 2.5-acre footprint. You will find 28 types of grasses and sedges, 43 types of trees and shrubs, 55 types of bulbs, and 193 types of perennial herbaceous plants within the borders of Lurie Garden.