Cantigny Park’s beautiful grounds can now be just as vibrant for color blind visitors.
The park offers EnChroma glasses, which allow those with color blindness to experience the full spectrum most of us enjoy.
“And for me, these pathways here, they’re very pretty but they’re kind of dull,” said Cantigny volunteer George Tenne, who is red-green color blind. “And when I put the glasses on, they become more pronounced. I can see the reds in it better.”
More Common Than You Think
Color blindness might be more common than you’d think. One in 12 men and one in 200 women are color blind.
“Color blind people tend to see things a little bit muddled,” said Alicia Catalano, membership and retail operations manager at Cantigny. “Colors are a little too together. So when you put on the glasses, things are a little more separated and colors are a little more vibrant.”
Trying Them On
On April 14, Cantigny debuted the glasses by inviting Tenne and Christopher Pieters, the park’s director of food and beverage who is also color blind, to try them on for the first time.
“When I look at this grass in front of me with the glasses off, it looks kind of pale and brown and then when I put them on, it really snaps the greenness of the grass to a more exciting vibrant color,” said Christopher Pieters,
Where to Find Color Blind Glasses
The EnChroma glasses are available for free at the visitor’s center, as long as guests put down a deposit.
Allowing more people to enjoy the full range of colors on display at Cantigny.
“It opened up a new world,” said Tenne. “A new world that I hadn’t seen.”
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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