Though October has ushered in lower temperatures, students can still enjoy colorful fauna on display as they walk across campus, thanks to the recent revamping and rededication of the Weinberg Garden on Sheridan Road.
Visitors enter the garden by a limestone path. Flowering annuals, shrubs and curved white benches make up the green space, which is located near Deering Field.
The project was officially completed Oct. 7 with a rededication to Northwestern alumna Marjorie Weinberg, a lifetime member of the Board of Trustees. Her sons David, Richard and Jack Weinberg funded the construction of the garden, as well as the Weinberg Family Distinguished Professorship of Life Sciences, creating an endowed professorship position.
The garden was originally constructed in 1998 in conjunction with the dedication of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, but has since remained unchanged.
NU President Henry Bienen expressed great enthusiasm for the project.
“I think that having the garden named in (her) honor is wonderful,” Bienen said. He added that the Weinbergs are “an important leadership family” to NU and have been longtime donors.
According to David Weinberg, the endowed professorship and visual additions to
the garden were inspired by his mother’s 11-year battle with cancer.
“We wanted to create something that would contribute to the knowledge that would help others,” Weinberg said. He said he wanted to support the “thousands of clinicians and researchers who had worked for decades” to give his mother great mobility despite her disease.
Weinberg said that the physical changes to the garden were “an upgrade of an existing space,” adding that he hoped students would enjoy the space for years to come.
But he might not have to wait years. Students already studying in the garden said that the space is a wonderful addition to campus.
“It’s even more beautiful than what’s already here, which is hard to do,” said Communication freshman Edie Wellman. “It’s making me get my work done.”
Others noted that it was nice to see the long-empty space filled with something for students’ enjoyment.
“This hill area was always begging for something,” Weinberg junior Veronica Berns said.
Though recent warm weather added to the appeal of the garden, Berns said the space might be less popular during the winter.
“I feel that there are a lot of (outdoor) spaces that students don’t even use,” she said. “But we’re in Chicago. It’s cold.”
Reach Sara Peck at [email protected].
