When my wife brought up the idea of getting tickets to go to the Conservatory for their Winter Wonderland happy hour, I got grumpy. This event was not on my radar. Plus, it was cold outside. Somehow, she won. We got tickets and went.
It was a cold Thursday night in mid-January. Temperatures were in the 20s. And it was an indoor / outdoor event. Surely there is not gonna be a crowd tonight, I thought.
We arrived ten minutes before they opened. We’re retired so 5:20pm is doable. People were waiting in their cars. We finally got out and walked in. The doors weren’t open, but the front waiting area was available, warm and packed. With 60-somethings. Huhhhh.
The colorful lighting driving and walking up to the front door was beautiful. What an awesome venue for weddings, corporate events or just cold Thursday nights in January.
The crowd was mostly younger and mostly groups of women just to set the scene (in case you didn’t already surmise that). It was a healthy crowd.
We grabbed a site map when we checked in and were directed upstairs to the Grand Atrium. Everyone got a passport at the door. There were five wine stations you could hit & get stamped. We didn’t have any problem fulfilling that task.
The Palm House is spectacular. Very tall palms with a glass roof. And it’s a very warm room. There were two different wine stations for our passport to get stamped and a quite popular decorative chocolate station. Longest line of the night.
We made our way outside onto the west terrace. There were large blocks of ice and a chainsaw ice sculpting competition underway. Again. Spectacular. Beyond the ice sculpting was a person with a long stick with fire at both ends that he was treating like he was a drum major in a marching band. There also was ice skating for those so inclined.
I counted five food trucks on the Conservatory campus all positioned up near Broad St. My wife did pizza. I did Mexican. We ate in the Palm House, but they had dinner pods (clear igloos) outside for those interested.
The lights outside walking to the food trucks were festive and fun and beautiful. The energy throughout was contagious. The individual wine and / or cocktail stations were all local vendors. The Chihuly glass art collection throughout was eye catching.
The Conservatory and its Gardens display over 400 plant species from around the world in four separate biomes including flora found in the desert and rainforest. There are also trees that are hundreds of years old.
The 88 acres that is the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has a rich history. The property was first purchased by the Franklin County Agricultural Society in 1852 as a site for the first Franklin County Fair.
The property was the site of the Ohio State Fair from 1874 to 1885. When the fair moved to its present location, the Ohio legislature declared the land ‘Franklin Park.’
In 1893 park commissioners sent prominent local architect JM Freese to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He returned with inspiration to build what is the Palm House – a grand Victorian-style glass greenhouse.
After not wanting to go at all, I’d go again. It was fabulous. For any young person out there pursuing a young lady, take her to this event. It will grab her. Trust me. She’ll love it. And you will too. I did. Thank you, Sweetie.
Franklin Park hosted Ameriflora, billed as the first international flower show in the U.S. from April 20 to October 12, 1992. It cost $95 million. Ameriflora’s opening ceremony was attended by U.S. president George HW Bush and first lady Barbara.
For the event, a small amphitheater was built amongst all the flowers. It hosted concerts including Boys II Men and Dolly Parton. I took the bus from work one day and saw comedian Paula Poundstone. And it hosted a Bob Hope television special that drew an estimated 30 million viewers.
In the end only 2 million visitors attended, and the Columbus Dispatch had to write a check for $2.6 million to convert the property back into a public park when all was said and done. The poor turnout was blamed on fourteen inches of rain in July of 1992 and a general lack of enthusiasm from the surrounding city and region.
Ameriflora was a ‘win’ for Columbus, according to the Dispatch, with a post-event study finding over $500 million was spent in the local economy on various goods and services.
The Conservatory did gain – through the Ameriflora experience – the NavStar sculpture by Bexley artist Stephen Canneto. It includes a time capsule to be opened in 2092 that contains a letter from former Columbus mayor Dana ‘Buck’ Rinehart titled ‘Greetings from a Dead Mayor’.
This holiday season, Conservatory Aglow runs through January 4 2026, with thousands of beautiful holiday lights including the popular 100-foot light tunnel and a tree with 1400 ornaments. December is packed full of holiday events & music including Breakfast with Santa. Go to www.fpconservatory.org for more information.
Sources: Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens visitor publication; fpconservatory.org; Columbus Historical Society, John M Freese and his architectural legacy, research by Nicole D Sutton, May, 2021; Columbus Dispatch, ‘What’s Ameriflora ’92 and why was it such a big deal for Columbus?’, April, 20, 2023; Wikapedia; Ohiostatefair.com; HowExpert Guide to Columbus, Ohio by Meghan Tarney; Featured pictures courtesy of our private collection and include my wife Theresa.