Barrington dedicates new garden to famed conservations Ruth and Robert Work

Garden Club of Barrington members and relatives of the Work family gathered in front of the Barrington Area Library's terraced gardens April 26 to dedicate the gardens as a memorial to renowned Barrington conservationists Ruth and Robert Work.

Leading the dedication ceremony was Garden Club of Barrington member and chairman of the Ruth and Robert Work Park Project Peggy Olsen.

"The Works generously contributed to every cultural development in the Barrington community. They were especially interested in protecting nature and preserving the area's natural beauty and resources," Olsen said. "The Works were interested in bird and animal life, were students of nature and boosters of conservation."

In 1958, the Garden Club of Illinois officially took on the job of landscaping the Illinois tollways. Seven Barrington garden clubs formed the Council of Barrington Garden Clubs and elected to develop and plant the 33 acres along the Northwest Tollway and the Barrington Road exit. In 1962, the Tollway Commission accepted the Council's request to name the park as a memorial to one of Barrington's power couples to recognize their work in conservation matters, and it was named the "Ruth and Robert Work Park."

Recently, the state of Illinois requested the park to be relocated or removed due to a $68 million dollar tollway renovation project to be completed by 2016. Olsen and her committee took on the task of finding a suitable location for the park. After careful consideration of several sites, the Barrington Area Library gardens were proposed. It was a fitting location as the Garden Club of Barrington installed and has maintained these gardens since 1976, and Ruth Work was not only a founding member of the Garden Club of Barrington, but also one of the organizers of the first Barrington Area Library, which opened in 1915, on Park Avenue.

The Garden Council and the Library Board approved the proposal, and a granite marker was installed by Avant-Gardenscapes in December 2014, with a springtime dedication planned.

"As a member of the Garden Club of Barrington, I feel honored to dedicate the library garden as the "Ruth and Robert Work Memorial Garden" and I feel that this lovely setting is the perfect place to memorialize this extraordinary Barrington couple," Olsen said.

Several Barrington Work family members were in attendance including the Work's great grandchildren Ola, Jenny and Ian Pitcher, and their mother Ewa Pitcher. Jenny Pitcher read an essay to the group about her life growing up in her grandparents' and parents' home designed and built by her famous great-grandfather architect Robert G. Work.

History of Ruth and Robert Work

Ruth M. Work (1878-1966) was widely known and recognized for her work in conservation and conservation education. She wrote extensively on the subject and received a medal from the Garden Club of America. She was a founder and honorary member of the Barrington Woman's Club and a leader of its Conservation Department. She was a founder and honorary member of the Garden Club of Barrington, and a four-term president, an honorary member of the Countryside Garden Class and charter member of the Little Garden Club in Barrington, all affiliates of the Barrington Council of Garden Clubs.

Ruth was one of the organizers of the Barrington Area Library, belonged to the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Illinois Audubon Society, served as secretary for the Chicago Chapter of the Illinois Conservation Council, chapter member of the Wild Flower Preservation Society and honorary president of the group, a life member of the Chicago Historical Society, Barrington Natural History Society and affiliated with the Barrington Methodist Church.

Robert G. Work (1874-1960) moved his family to Barrington in 1907. He was a part of a circle of prominent architects including Daniel Burnham, John Root, Louis Sullivan and David Adler. He designed many local houses in the Barrington Hills area and the village. He designed the Barrington Methodist Church on Cook Street in 1931, and although it burned in 1998, the Work steeple towers over the new church on Algonquin Road. He also designed the first (1926) and second (1931) clubhouse for Barrington Hills Country Club. After a fire destroyed the first wooden structure, he designed the second to be made of noncombustible materials and this design still stands today.

Robert was an active member of the American Institute of Architects in Chicago, the Chicago Art Institute, the Chicago Academy of Science, the Chicago Tavern Club, the Barrington Hills Country Club, the Barrington Hills Countryside Association and the Barrington United Methodist Church.

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