Chicago Flowers Take Root

Maybe people can't go home again, but apparently flower and garden shows can.

After a two-year absence, the Chicago Flower & Garden Show will return to its original home at Chicago's Navy Pier in Festival Hall A and B March 7-15.

“We're absolutely excited about having them back at the Pier,” said Maribel Hopgood, chief of marketing and communications for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the pier.

The show, held at Navy Pier for 10 years and at other locations in Chicago for more than 100 years, ran into financial problems and was canceled after the 2006 edition. It resurfaced under new ownership, Special Events Management, and moved to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont in 2007.

“We always thought that the Pier was the perfect fit for a show like this,” Hopgood said, “and we are completely exhilarated by the fact that they are returning to Chicago next year.”

The MPEA and Special Events Management worked with the Mayor's Office of Special Events to return the Flower & Garden Show to Navy Pier. The city will help in marketing and promoting the show, said Tony Abruscato, show director and president of Special Events Management.

For one thing, he was able to negotiate a $15 flat-rate parking fee for attendees. Normally, parking at Navy Pier is $19 per day Monday through Thursday and $23 a day on Fridays and weekends.

At a June 26 press conference, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said he was pleased about the return of the show, and that he felt it was a reminder of the importance of tradeshows, conventions and meetings to the Chicago-area economy.

“Shows like the Flower & Garden Show keep our city's economy growing and give us the resources we need to make sure Chicago is the kind of place that people want to visit and where people want to live, work and raise a family,” he added.

Abruscato said of his decision to briefly move the show to Rosemont, “We felt that a move in venue would help us re-establish a new show, a new style of show and also, just from a timing standpoint, potentially be a cost-savings move for us.”

This year's showfloor in Rosemont had about 200,000 net square feet, 36,000 attendees and 210 exhibitors, Abruscato said. When the show moves, he added, it will utilize a “good portion” of Navy Pier's 170,100 sq. ft. and will have 250 exhibitor spaces. He said he also expects attendance to rise.

Hopgood said the MPEA and city officials felt this was an opportunity to market the show to potential out-of-town tourists. According to show management, attendees typically are Chicago-area renters, homeowners, downtown workers and guests from elsewhere in the Midwest who hope to pick up gardening and landscaping tips while viewing the display gardens.

“We are ... very hopeful for increased attendance,” Abruscato said. “I think part of it will be people wanting to see what the show has become, and what it's going to look like in that space.”

The show will have some returning and some brand new features. Abruscato said a popular horticulture competition will return, as will lush theme gardens and longer show hours. Of course, there also will be the introduction of sustainable elements.

Daley called the show the perfect complement to Chicago's long-standing goal of becoming the most environmentally friendly city in the world. Abruscato said the Flower & Garden Show will take steps to help Chicago achieve that status.

“We might actually harvest plant material from the show and help develop a ... Chicago Flower & Garden Show garden,” Abruscato added.

Returning highlights of the show include a teaching garden, featuring hands-on demonstrations; a market with garden-related services and products for sale; a garden gourmet, with 27 chefs from across the country; seminars with local and national horticulture and botany experts; and a photography garden, showcasing floral and landscape pictures by amateur photographers.

“The city of Chicago and the Mayor's Office of Special Events will work in concert with Navy Pier and ... Special Events Management in promoting and marketing the event as well as the city services such as traffic management that ensures a safe and fun experience to everyone attending the show,” said Cindy Gatziolis, director of public relations and marketing for the Mayor's Office of Special Events.