The Chicago Botanic Garden opens the seven-acre Regenstein Learning Campus.
The centerpiece of the Learning Campus is the new Learning Center, a 26,700-square-foot building that features12 indoor and two outdoor classrooms, a nature laboratory, early childhood classrooms, the ITW Kitchen, and spaces for classes such as yoga and botanical arts. The 1.5 acre Nature Play Garden, with its rolling hills and series of multisensory gardens, provides areas for hiding, exploring, learning, and gathering. The Learning Campus also includes the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden and the Kleinman Family Cove, along with the McCormick Entry Plaza, which were
completed in 2012.
The Regenstein Learning Campus will be the home base for the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, which offers a year-round continuum of nature-based learning through more than 1,500 classes, programs, and events. For adults, there are classes ranging from photography and botanical arts to master gardener skills and gardening in a raised bed. For children, the Regenstein School connects the world of plants with science, art, history, and culture. There are day camp, summer science, and scout programs, as well as the Nature Preschool and free, informal Family Drop-in Activities. Programs are also offered off-site. Each year, 125,000 people participate in this range of registered and free programs.
