Historic Hartman Rock Garden restored

An historic rock garden in Springfield was slowly coming back to life.

The Kohler Foundation based out of Wisconsin acquired the property located at the corner of McCain and Russell street in Springfield, in May.

Officials from the Wisconsin based Kohler Foundation were in Springfield on Wednesday, and spoke to 2 News about the project.   Executive Director Terri Yoho said the Hartman Rock Garden was exactly the type of project their foundation was dedicated to helping restore.

"Our focus is the preservation of self taught art environments. We were aware of this site, the family approached us.. felt it as a terrific fit of our mission of preserving self taught art," said Yoho.

The Hartman Rock Garden was considered one of Springfield's best kept secrets. It was created in the backyard of the home that used to belong to H.G. "Ben" Hartman. He was laid off from work in the 1930's and used the time to work on his masterpiece.

The garden was composed of a quarter million pieces of stone from a nearby rock quarry. For decades, since Hartman's wife died, the garden had been crumbling.

"It was in really bad shape, that was my first reaction," said California art conservator Benjamin Caguioa, who was hired to oversee the restoration project.

Since May, a team has assembled on the property to stabilize the structures, and repair cracks.

"Right now they're just trying to kill all the mold and lichen on the surface, they're spraying it with stuff called bioclean," said Caguioa.

The Kohler foundation was paying for the restoration. After the work is completed, Yoho said the garden would be turned back to a group of non-profit agencies in Springfield, that would take over, and open up the garden to the public.

Yoho said, the Springfield Art Museum, Turner and Greater Springfield Foundations were among those selected to take charge of the property.

"We do not mind people stopping by to take a peek. It is a construction site so they have to be careful. We welcome visitors to come take a peek because it does belong to the community," said Yoho.