Chicago Botanic Garden and others accused of negligence after 2 women allegedly injured at Lightscape

Two women attending a holiday event at the Chicago Botanic Garden last month were injured when a projection screen collapsed on top of them and caused serious injuries, according to a lawsuit against those responsible for overseeing the event. 

The civil complaint filed on Dec. 29 accuses the Chicago Horticultural Society, which operates the Chicago Botanic Garden, and Culture Creative LTD., a United Kingdom-based production company that reportedly designed the garden’s ticketed Lightscape artistic showcase, of negligence. 

The complaint also accuses the The Forest Preserve District of Cook County, which owns the land on which Chicago Botanic Garden operates, of “willful and wanton misconduct” in allegedly permitting the Lightscape event to proceed “without minimum safety standards in place.”

The plaintiffs, two Illinois residents named Ariel James and Shelli Loesch, each seek more than $50,000 from the defendants for, among other things, “past and future pain and suffering, past and future loss of normal life, past and future disfigurement, past and future disability.”

“We have been notified about a lawsuit and do not comment on pending litigation. We intend to review the filing carefully and respond appropriately. Visitor and employee safety is our first and foremost priority,” said Julie McCaffrey, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s public relations manager, in an email. 

The forest preserve also declined to comment, with Carl Voge, director of communications for the organization, also citing the active litigation.

A representative for Culture Creative did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

‘Suddenly and without warning’

According to James and Loesch’s lawsuit, each purchased a ticket to the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lightscape and arrived in Glencoe for the event’s 7:30 p.m. timeslot on Dec. 20, 2025. 

James reportedly was with her mother and children, and Loesch reportedly attended with her friends and her friend’s children.

A Chicago Botanic Garden webpage describes Lightscape as an “enchanting 1.3-mile trail of twinkling lights and showstopping displays expertly curated anew each year.” Videos show bright lights strung around trees and erected around the garden’s campus. 

The event has run from Nov. 14 to Jan. 5 this season.

Around 8 p.m. on Dec. 20, Loesch, James and James’ children were standing in front of an exhibit when “suddenly and without warning, the projection screen, rigging and rigging supports collapsed on top” of the group, “trapping them all beneath its weight,” the lawsuit says. 

Culture Creative’s website shows that it requires all of its artistic displays to be able to handle sustained winds of 45 mph, the lawsuit says.

There were no winds at or above 45 mph in Glencoe during the entire afternoon and evening of Dec. 20, and there was no weather event that caused the structural failure of the screen and rigging, the lawsuit says. 

The crash reportedly fractured Loesch’s left ankle, left tibia and her coccyx. She also sustained a head injury with loss of consciousness and spent four nights in the hospital, the lawsuit says.

The incident also fractured James’ left wrist and injured her left shoulder, neck and head, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit does not mention injuries to the children.

Alleged negligence and misconduct

Loesch and James both accuse the Chicago Horticultural Society of negligence as it “had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the installation, maintenance and display of the various components” of Lightscape, the lawsuit says. 

Yet, among other alleged failures, the society “carelessly and negligently failed to anchor rigging and a projection screen … failed to maintain basic standards of wind resistance and support” and “failed to postpone Lightscape on December 20, 2025, in the presence of wind,” the lawsuit says.

Likewise, Loesch and James accused Culture Creative, through its partnership with the Chicago Horticultural Society, of negligence for allegedly violating that same duty with the same list of alleged failures. 

The plaintiffs accused the Forest Preserve District of Cook County of willful and wanton misconduct because it, among other things, allegedly “failed to prevent hazardous displays from being created or maintained on its property, despite knowledge of their creation” and “Permitted rigging and artistic displays to be placed on its property that could not stand in wind gusts of 16 miles per hour, causing the structural failure and entrapment of the Plaintiff,” the lawsuit says. 

A judge ruled on Dec. 29 that the defendants must preserve the screen, rigging, ropes, weights and all aspects of the exhibit that fell on Loesch and James on Dec. 20, court records show. 

Lawyers for the Chicago Horticultural Society, Culture Creative and Forest Preserve District of Cook County have until the end of January to file their own responses to the complaint. 

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.