05/26/2022
Ithaca Children’s Garden will install its first permanent structure – a 30-foot yurt – on site this spring; enhancing the Garden experience year-round.
At Ithaca Children’s Garden, the mission to create a more beautiful, resilient, and just world is grounded in ensuring children have access to nature in order to build relationships with the natural world.
The Garden is open every day of the year and admission is always free. Their signature events celebrate each of the seasons, and year-round programs are nature-centered, to offer neighbors countless opportunities to forge a connection with play and the outdoors. While it may seem counterintuitive, year-round outdoor programming is difficult without the security of an indoor space. For many years, and exacerbated by the pandemic, Garden staff and visitors alike have been challenged by inclement weather without a four-season shelter on site.
This spring, supported by its dedicated community and its Board of Directors, ICG has begun the long-awaited process of installing a permanent four-season structure – a 30-foot yurt – at Ithaca Children’s Garden. The yurt will provide those most vulnerable to weather extremes with accessible, secure, year-round shelter from the elements.
“We hope that the Yurt will expand on the great work the Garden has done to encourage the neighborhoods most in need,” says ICG Board member Brock Gibian (he/him) “and will allow for all-year access to visitors and local families to enjoy so that the Garden is a consistent and persistent positive presence in more community lives.”
Ithaca Children’s Garden will remain open as it undergoes this major project. Safety fencing has been raised around the site, and visible signage is posted throughout the Garden to help ensure visitor safety.
Visit the Garden this spring to see how the yurt is growing! Visit ithacachildrensgarden.org for more information.
