All internal content posts
Category: New Leaf Updates & Features
Project Update, Summer 2018
We are in the “home stretch” of Project New Leaf’s Phase One, with completion scheduled for this fall. Your patience is appreciated as we improve the park for you and for future generations of Cantigny visitors. It’s always good news...
Standing Guard, Without a Scratch
For nearly a decade, the bronze Lion of Cantigny has kept watch outside the Visitors Center. The WWI “doughboy” soldier by sculptor Stephen Spears was dedicated on Veterans Day, November 11, 2008. During construction of the Arrival Plaza, a key...
Canoes or Battleships?
Parks visitors may notice that the new flower beds in the soon-to-be-completed Oak Colonnade have a distinctive shape. The beds are generally known as “canoes” among Cantigny staff members, especially those in Horticulture. To others, once planted, they resemble battleships....
Project Update, Spring 2018
We are well into the second full year of Project New Leaf and there is much to report. Thanks for your patience as we improve the park. Naturally we devoted the winter months to indoor work, primarily an extensive remodeling...
Red Oaks Farm Playground
We’re in the final stages of construction for the Red Oaks Farm playground, located in the picnic area. A Memorial Day weekend opening is anticipated, weather permitting. The playground’s name recalls the rich history of Cantigny. When Joseph Medill purchased...
Golf Course Update
When Project New Leaf began in late 2016, we said the golf course would not be affected. Last spring, however, complications regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ jurisdiction of wetlands along Woodside No. 2 stream led to a decision...
Work Begins on Visitors Center
If you’ve visited the park recently you probably noticed some new construction activity in and around the Visitors Center. Here’s a summary of what’s going on. Just after Veterans Day, work began on a new entrance vestibule for Le Jardin,...
2017: A Year of Transformation
Just over a year ago, we announced major revitalization plans for Cantigny, the former home of Robert R. McCormick in Wheaton. We didn’t have a name for our project at the time, only big plans for the estate’s gardens, grounds...
Butterfly Hill
Something funny happened after Project New Leaf got underway last spring. A small mountain was born. As the Ecological Pond Garden was being created, surplus soil was relocated from the gardens to the area just south and west of the...
Progress in the park
A very busy summer officially changed to fall amid record-high temperatures and a continuing high activity level for Project New Leaf. Calm and dry weather has definitely worked in Cantigny’s favor during Phase One. Our top priority in August was...