Restoring Our Glasshouse

By Phipps Conservatory

The South Room will undergo a renovation and historic restoration from July 20 – Oct. 15. The project will extend the life of the glasshouse by 75 years while reinstating elements of the room’s original design that have been unseen for over half a century. During this time, guests will be welcome to travel through the South Room to other rooms and see the progress of this important effort firsthand. The work includes the meticulous, pane-by-pane replacement of the room’s glass with stronger, modern materials, as well as the painstaking redesign of the ribbed structure, which took on its current form after 1960s revisions, to return it to the more ornate design of the 1890s (seen above in an archival photo). On the room’s roof, decorative crests, signature features of Victorian glasshouse style which have been missing for many years, will be replaced.

The latest step in the ongoing master plan to restore and preserve each room in our original 1893 glasshouse, the overhaul follows similar efforts in the Palm Court, Gallery Room and Victoria Room.

Led by K.C. Wiegand’s Renovation Services, Inc., the grand unveiling of the newly-restored South Room is expected to coincide with the opening of our Fall Flower Show and Garden Railroad on Oct. 17.