A Look at Lilacia Park - Jens Jensen

Winding Paths & Council Circles

Lilacia Park Bench, photograph, c.1940s

When wandering Lilacia Park, you may have sat on a low limestone wall to enjoy the view and the surrounding scents. Perhaps you looked at this funny curving wall, or as a kid, walked along the broad stone seat pretending to be a tightrope walker in a circus. What you discovered is a council ring, a signature element in gardens designed by Jens Jensen. 

These rings, or sometimes half-circles, were scattered throughout the gardens he created so that visitors would enjoy the view or find a quiet place to chat with a friend. 

The photograph to the left, and the video with Alison Costanzo, LHS Executive Director, shows one of the council rings at Lilacia Park, which is not really ring-like but instead is a curving structure. Jensen saw council rings as uniquely American, with no defined head of the table, but a place for people to meet as equals. When friends meet at the council ring, there is no hierarchy, and so ideas and stories can be shared equally. 

Jensen also believed that since nature has no straight lines, a curving bench flows with the design as opposed to a traditional bench. In an undated letter to Stanley White, a professor of Landscape Architecture at University of Illinois, Jensen wrote:

Flagstone path at Lilacia Park,
photograph, c. 1940s

I think it would be well to say this much about the straight line, that it is cold and uncompromising. A curved line is poetic - it is romantic - it is mysterious and is a part of our life.

He goes on to explain the difference between a snakey line versus a curved line and ends by saying If a straight line is the fitting thing, use it, and I will not make a curve for the sake of making it.

The council ring then becomes part of the Midwestern landscape, a low slung element where the earth and sky meet. If you wander through Lilacia Park when the lilacs are in full bloom, the paths you travel are never truly straight but instead have slight curves. A council ring becomes a destination for the wanderer, a spot where a visitor can enjoy solitude or a couple of visitors can have a quiet conversation without being on view to other wanderers.

Jens Jensen was influenced by the prairies and driven by a philosophical belief that parks are a humanizing element in crowded urban areas. Lilacia Park is one of Jensen’s smallest designs and contains, to this day, many of Jensen’s signature elements.

Written By: Jean Crockett, Lombard Historical Society Archivist

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Blue Prints, The Planting Plan for The Lombard Community Garden & Library (Lilacia Park), Jens Jensen,
c. 1929.

A Premiere: A Look at Lilacia Park

A New Tradition, Celebrating 90 Years..

Entrance to Lilac Park

We have an opportunity to embrace a new Lilac Time tradition while still being mindful of protecting our family, friends, neighbors and the vulnerable in our midst. Instead of going to Lilacia Park with your family and friends as usual, bring your scrumptious snack, homemade or store delivered, to your favorite ‘easy chair’ and watch Sarah Richardt, former Executive Director of the Lombard Historical Society and former President of the Lombard Park District Board of Park Commissioners, while she takes you on a virtual tour of Lilacia Park.

This video was created in conjunction with Tim Frakes Productions.

Although she is already ensconced in her new home in Ohio, you will be able to accompany her through her beloved Lilacia Park. With a degree in Forestry, a position on the Park Board for several years, and over a decade of giving tours of the Park, there is no better tour guide for this adventure. As many of you know, Sarah brings a contagious enthusiasm with her regardless of the outing, and although you will not be at the park, you will have a fabulous time watching A Look at Lilacia Park, featuring Sarah Richardt.

Sarah Richardt, Executive Director, 2016-2020.

As Lombard celebrates the 90th anniversary of Lilac Time, become the generation that creates an unforgettable merging of the old traditions with the new. Light a lilac scented candle, wear lavender, put those purple Mardi Gras beads to good use, make your own parade (keeping safely distant from your fellow paraders), and, of course, watch A Look at Lilacia Park. We have a choice. We can be dragged kicking and screaming, or we can sashay into the future imagining ourselves frolicking in the beautiful Lilacia Park amid the heady scents and vivid hues of May, all from the safety of our own homes.

Were you, or the people who owned your home before you, among the hundreds of ‘new’ people to move to Lombard who received a lilac bush from the Village? Invite your neighbors and friends who are not lucky enough to have a lilac bush, to pop into your yard and snip a sprig to bring home. Maybe they will leave a note on the bush, or the front door, so that, when it is safe to take a peek, you could read the messages.

Feel free to post pictures of your new Lilac Time traditions on our Facebook page.

About Tim Frakes Productions

Located in the old Lombard Hotel, above Babcock’s Grove Restaurant, Tim Frakes produces documentary and image video for non-profit, faith-based, broadcast and corporate clients.