Chicago Horticultural Society receives $250k for its Conservation Center

by Wesley Fox In 2009 the Chicago Horticultural Society received a $250,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity “to assist in the development of the visitor interpretive features in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center.”  The Center is located at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. According to the DCEO Grant Tracker website (search Chicago...

by Wesley Fox

In 2009 the Chicago Horticultural Society received a $250,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity “to assist in the development of the visitor interpretive features in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center.”  The Center is located at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. According to the DCEO Grant Tracker website (search Chicago Horticultural Society, Grant #09335013), the Garden “will feature interpretive and innovative exhibit features.”

Spending $250,000 on a garden hardly seems like an effective use of the taxpayer’s money regardless of how pretty or aromatic the flowers are.  I am also unsure what an “interpretive” or “innovative” exhibit feature looks like.

To find this information on our IllinoisOpenGov.org website, go to “Checks to Businesses & People” Under the “Department” section search Dept. of Commerce, under the “Vendor” section search Chicago Horticultural Society.