[LEMONS]


9.09.2003

Conservatory Reopens 09-20-2003

The New York Times had a great piece on the Conservatory of Flowers over the weekend:

It has all the markings of a fairy tale: a glass palace, a mysterious past, water lilies big enough to support a real-life Alice in Wonderland, and carnivorous plants known to consume creatures as big as rats. But the most fantastic element of all is that this sparkling structure is real - and that its doors are about to open to the public.

After years of restoration, San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest public conservatory in the Western Hemisphere, will reopen Sept. 20. Known as the jewel of Golden Gate Park, this 19th-century greenhouse was heavily damaged in 1995 in one of the most violent storms the park has ever suffered.

Initially, the cost of restoration was thought to be prohibitive, and fears that this shimmering temple to tropical plant life might be gone for good prompted many, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to offer their support. Nearly $25 million later, it's done.

I've been riding my bike past that magnificent glass palace for years now, without ever going inside. I can't wait to check it out.

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