Located on the bank of the Illinois River, Al Fresco Botanical Garden highlights the ecological and cultural history of the site, while embracing the fluctuations of the river. Al Fresco was an amusement park in the early 1900s until it closed due to flooding. The flooding that closed the park is now embraced. The botanical garden highlights riparian habitats with a spark of amusement that honors the site’s past. It is designed so visitors can experience various ecological zones, while creating a series of changing experiences based on the rise and fall of the river. This takes the very element that destroyed the amusement park and turns it into the main attraction for Al Fresco Botanical Garden.