- Parks of Chicago
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The riverfront pavilion in Ping Tom Memorial Park.
The southwestern entrance into Portage Park at the intersection of Irving Park Rd. and Central Ave.
Buckingham Fountain, donated to Chicago in 1927 by Kate Buckingham
The City of Chicago devotes 8.2% of its total land acreage to parkland, which ranked it ninth among high-density population cities in the United States in 2008.[1] The Chicago Park District manages 220 facilities in 570 parks covering more than 7,600 acres (3,100 ha) of land throughout the city.[2] This extensive network of parks also includes nine lakefront harbors over 24 miles (39 km) of lakefront, rendering the Chicago Park District the nation's largest municipal harbor system, along with 31 beaches, 17 historic lagoons, 86 pools, 90 playgrounds, 90 gardens, 66 fitness centers, nine ice skating rinks, 10 museums, and two conservatories.[3][4] In addition to serving residents, a number of these parks also double as tourist destinations, most notably Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park, visited by over 20 million visitors each year, making it second only to Central Park in New York City.[5]
The Chicago Park District also maintains many special use facilities for activities such as golfing, boating, boxing, skating and baseball, as well as a number of specialty parks devoted entirely to dogs.[6] In addition to maintaining its parks and facilities, the Chicago Park District holds thousands of community, holiday, nature, sports, music, arts, and cultural events and festivals for city residents every year, many featuring performances and workshops provided by nationally recognized "Arts Partners" such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and "Arts Partners in Residence" such as the Citywide Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Park Theater Project, Beacon Street Gallery and Theater, Billy Goat Experimental Theatre Company, Chicago Dance Medium, Chicago Moving Company, Chicago Swordplay Guild, Free Street Programs, K-Theory, Kuumba Lynx, The Peace Museum, Pros Arts Studio, the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, and the Zephyr Dance Company.[7][8][9] The height of these events are during the summer months at the height of the tourist season while children are out of school for summer recess.[10]
Chicago's wealth of greenspace afforded by Chicago's parks is further enhanced by the Cook County Forest Preserves, a network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are set aside as natural areas along the city's periphery.
Contents
List of parks
Notable parks
- Millennium Park - 24.5 acres (9.9 ha); Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the Art Institute of Chicago in Grant Park.
- Grant Park - 319 acres (129 ha); located in The Loop; Home to Buckingham Fountain, this downtown park is also a favorite site of major festivals including the Taste of Chicago, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Lollapolooza and others.
- Lincoln Park - 1,200 acres (490 ha); Chicago's largest city park. Located north of The Loop, this is one of the more distinctive parks in terms of geography, because while it is centrally located in the Lincoln Park community area it spans many different neighborhoods throughout the north side as it is nestled between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.
- Jackson Park - 500 acres (200 ha); located on the south side of the city on Lake Michigan, this park is famous for its role in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
- Washington Park - 372 acres (151 ha); located on the south side, it was the proposed location for the 2016 Summer Olympics Stadium.
- Burnham Park - 598 acres (242 ha); runs along the Lakefront for much of the South Side connecting Jackson Park with Grant Park
- Columbus Park - 144 acres (58 ha); considered one of the 150 Great Places in Illinois
- Garfield Park - 185 acres (75 ha); this west side park contains a grand conservatory and lagoon
- Humboldt Park - 207 acres (84 ha) is a center of its community west and north of downtown
- Marquette Park - 300 acres (120 ha); the largest park in southwest Chicago, it has a golf course and many other attractions
- Douglas Park- 173 acres (70 ha) and named for Stephen Douglas, it is Southwest of downtown.
Other parks
- Abbott Park
- Ada Park
- Adams Park
- Jane Addams Park
- Almond Park
- Altgeld Park
- Amundsen Park
- Arcade Park
- Archer Park
- Armour Square Park
- Armstrong Park
- Arnita Young Boswell Park
- Arrigo Park
- Auburn Park
- Augusta Park
- Austin Park
- Avalon Park
- Avondale Park
- Bessemer Park
- Bell Park
- Berger Park
- Blackhawk Park
- Boyce Park
- Bosley Park
- Promontory Point
- Calumet Park - 200 acres (81 ha)
- Chopin Park
- Donovan Park
- DuSable Park
- Dunbar Park
- Dvorak Park
- Eckhart Park
- Ellis Park
- Fernwood Park
- Foster Park
- Fuller Park
- Gage Park
- Garfield Park Conservatory
- Gompers Park
- Hamilton Park
- Harrison Park
- Hayes Park
- Holstein Park
- Hoyne Park
- Humboldt Park - 207 acres (84 ha)
- Independence Park
- Indian Boundary Park
- Jefferson Park
- Jesse Owens Park
- Kelvyn Park
- Kenwood Community Park (formerly Shoesmith Field)
- Kosciuszko Park
- Legion Park runs between Peterson Avenue and Foster Avenue
- Loyola/Leone Park (Chicago)
- Marquette Park - 300 acres (120 ha)
- McGuane Park
- McKinley Park - 69 acres (28 ha)
- Midway Plaisance connects Washington Park to Jackson Park, notable for giving its name to carnival midways
- Mount Greenwood Park (Chicago)
- Mozart Park
- Nichols Park
- Northerly Island Park
- Ogden Park
- Olson Park and Waterfall- A now demolished privately run park that had been open to the public in the Avondale Community area. Located on the northwest corner of Diversey and Pulaski, the complex was built by Walter E. Olson, the owner of the Olson Rug Company next to his factory and headquarters.
- Oz Park
- Palmer Park
- Peoples Park
- Ping Tom Memorial Park, A 12-acre (4.9 ha) park near Chinatown, unique because of its many Chinese accents, including a riverfront pavilion and bamboo gardens. The park is a popular destination, especially over the summer when the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce organizes a dragon boat race.
- Piotrowski Park
- Portage Park- The site of the swimming portion of the 1959 Pan American Games and where Gold Medalist Mark Spitz set new world's records during the 1972 U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
- Pulaski Park
- Rainbow Beach Park
- Revere Park
- River Park borders Foster Avenue on the north and Francisco Avenue on the west
- Rowan Park
- Riis Park
- Russell Square Park
- Shedd Park
- Sherman Park
- Skinner Park
- Smith Park
- South Shore Nature Reserve
- Stanton-Schiller Park
- Strohacker Park
- Union Park
- Vittum Park
- Washington Square Park
- Dinah Washington Park
- Harold Washington Park
- Warren Park (Chicago) - 90 acres (36 ha)
- Welles Park
- Wicker Park
- Wilson Park
- Winnemac Park
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Arts Partners in Residence
Members of the Arts Partners provide quality cultural content to the parks of Chicago in exchange for the use of space within the park district. These Arts Partners include nationally recognized arts organizations serving park patrons and citizens of the public.
- Albany Park Theater Project (Eugene Field)
- Beacon Street Gallery and Theater (Clarendon Community Center)
- Billy Goat Experimental Theatre Company (Broadway Armory)
- Chicago Dance Medium (Seward)
- Chicago Moving Company (Hamlin)
- Chicago Swordplay Guild (Pulaski Park)
- Free Street Programs (Pulaski Park)
- K-Theory (LaFollette)
- Kuumba Lynx (Clarendon Community Center)
- Peace Museum (Garfield Park)
- Pros Arts Studio (Dvorak Park)
- Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (Humboldt Park)
- Zephyr Dance Company (Holstein).
Image gallery
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Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park
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Flagstone steps in Portage Park
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Osaka Japanese Garden in Jackson Park
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Jefferson Park with a view of the fieldhouse designed by Clarence Hatzfeld
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Lincoln Park in winter
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Millennium Park
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Montrose Beach
See also
References
- Rand McNally "Chicago & Cook County StreetFinder", 1996.
Notes
- ^ "City Park Facts: Total Parkland as Percent of City Land Area, FY 2008". The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. November 2009. http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Parks & Facilities". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.home.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Parks & Facilities". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.home.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Harbors". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/resources/harbors/. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "City Park Facts". The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. June 2006. http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ "Parks & Facilities". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.home.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Arts Partners in Residence". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.results/object_id/cd7d16cc-e441-4b30-9222-5adb6f23e717.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Events". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.home.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Concerts in the Parks". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.results/object_id/a12c5d7f-b54d-4671-b831-0980f2678bc3.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Calendar". Chicago Park District. http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/events.calendar.cfm. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
External links
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