City Grange Gardening Center Opening On 99th Street Friday

CHICAGO — As some businesses are planning reopenings across the neighborhood, city, state and nation, the City Grange gardening center is planning its grand opening in Beverly. A ribbon cutting ceremony, complete with masked gardeners and social distancing of at least six feet apart, is set for the new business opening its doors for the first time at 1818 W. 99th St. Friday morning, May 8.

This will be City Grange's second location in the city, growing the business from its original spot at 5500 N. Western Ave. in the Lincoln Square neighborhood. A weekend "pop-up" back in November and December inside the Joplin Marley Studios on Walden Parkway first introduced neighborhood gardeners to City Grange.

The original planned opening of City Grange Beverly was to be held April 4, but that got delayed a month due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Beverly gardening center is City Grange's second in Chicago, with the other one having been open on the North Side in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

City Grange Founder LaManda Joy said the pandemic has actually increased the desire for gardening, and early May is the perfect time of year for them to be opening on the city's Far South Side.

“We have seen unprecedented enthusiasm for gardening this year,” Joy said. “Gardening makes people feel good in so many ways: it gets people outdoors in their yards, decks and patios, it offers a sense of accomplishment and anticipation, it offers light exercise, and it’seven a low-grade form of therapy.”

City Grange Beverly will offer a selection of organic and pesticide-free plants and seeds, soil and other gardening supplies, as well as gifts, floral, landscaping services and plenty of education to inspire and motivate anyone to garden, according to a news release on the upcoming opening.

"We believe the world would be a better place with more gardeners in it," Joy said. "My decades of gardening experience have confirmed that gardening makes people feel good in lots of ways."