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Parks in Chicago include open spaces and facilities, developed and managed by the Chicago Park District. The City of Chicago devotes 8.5% of its total land acreage to parkland, which ranked it 13th among high-density population cities in the United States in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since the 1830s, the official motto of Chicago has been Urbs in horto, Latin for "City in a garden" for its commitment to parkland.<ref name="CPD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 people each year, is one of the most visited parks in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Notable architects, artists and landscape architects have contributed to the 570 parks, including Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jens Jensen, Dwight Perkins, Frank Gehry, and Lorado Taft.<ref name="CPD"/>
HistoryEdit
In 1836, a year before Chicago was incorporated,<ref name=M12-3>Macaluso, pp. 12–13</ref> the Board of Canal Commissioners held public auctions for the city's first lots. Foresighted citizensTemplate:Who, who wanted the Lake Michigan lakefront kept as public open space, convinced the commissioners to designate two lots as public area. The land east of Michigan Avenue between Madison Street and Park Row (11th Street) was designated "Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of Any Buildings, or Other Obstruction, whatever." This lot was soon expanded to Randolph Street, and it was officially named Lake Park in 1847.<ref name=G3-4>Gilfoyle, pp. 3–4</ref> It was renamed Grant Park in 1901. A second parcel, west of Michigan Avenue between Randolph and Washington Streets, was designated Dearborn Park.
As Chicago grew, demand increased for public spaces, but the Chicago Common Council did little to address these requests. Instead, real estate investors realized that small public squares could increase the value of their property. In 1842, Washington Square Park became the first of these ventures, developed by the American Land Company. Similar projects were completed with Goudy Square Park in 1847 and Union Park in 1853. Although the Cook County Court agreed to allocate a major park on the South Side in 1857, these plans were rescinded two years later, and public outcry continued.
Chicago's second large-scale allocation of parkland came in 1860, when a large section of the City Cemetery was re-designated as a park. This was due to concerns led by John Henry Rauch about the possible public health impact of having a large cemetery on the lake. This new park was also named Lake Park; however, due to confusion over its name, it was renamed to Lincoln Park in 1865, in honor of the recently deceased President. Slowly, all of the graves were moved from the cemetery, greatly expanding the park.<ref group="fn">One grave, the Couch Tomb, was never removed from the site and serves as a reminder of the park's past.</ref>
Haussmann's renovation of Paris and New York's Greensward Plan in the 1850s and 1860s turned new attention to the role that parks can play in urban development. William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago, advocated for a state bill to create a large park on the South Side. Although initially rejected when proposed in 1868, the Illinois legislature accepted this plan in 1869. The objective was to create a system of parks and boulevards that would form a circle around Chicago.
In 1891, J. Frank Foster became the superintendent of the south Chicago park system. He advocated the spreading out of parks into working-class neighborhoods. These generally smaller parks would nonetheless be filled with playing fields and other facilities particularly 'field house' buildings. These facilities would provide all manner of recreation space and services to people of the surrounding neighborhoods. Olmstead's sons, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and John Charles Olmsted, designed many of the early neighborhood parks, and these ideas for neighborhood parks influenced national ideas of park design and programming.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
FacilitiesEdit
The Chicago Park District manages 220 facilities in 570 parks covering more than Template:Convert of land throughout the city.<ref name="Parks & Facilities">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This extensive network of parks also includes nine lakefront harbors over Template:Convert 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, a zoological park, and two plant conservatories.<ref name="Parks & Facilities"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name="Parks & Facilities"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ArchitectureEdit
The dominant theme in many of Chicago's park fieldhouses are variants of either Georgian or Classical Revival architecture. Clarence Hatzfeld designed more of these fieldhouses than any other architect, as well as many of the homes in Chicago's landmark Villa District.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Similar to other areas of Chicago's built environment, a sizeable number of structures in Chicago's Parks are of exceptional architectural value. Portage Park and Jefferson Park are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and some like Pulaski Park are official landmarks of the City of Chicago.
Forest preservesEdit
The green-space afforded by Chicago's parks is supplemented by the Cook County Forest Preserves, a separately administered network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are set aside as natural areas along the city's periphery.
List of parksEdit
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Notable parksEdit
- Burnham Park - Template:Convert; runs along the Lakefront for much of the South Side connecting Jackson Park with Grant Park.
- Calumet Park - Template:Convert; shares a border with the State of Indiana, and is also located on the lake.
- Columbus Park - Template:Convert; on the far west side of Chicago, considered one of the 150 Great Places in Illinois.
- Douglass (Anna and Frederick) Park - Template:Convert and named after Frederick Douglass and his wife Anna Murray Douglass, it is Southwest of downtown.
- Garfield Park - Template:Convert; this west side park contains a grand conservatory and lagoon.
- Grant Park - Template:Convert; 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.
- Humboldt Park - Template:Convert on the west side, was once a cultural center of Chicago's Puerto Rican Community and the site of a famous rally by pianist and statesman Ignace Paderewski that led to Poland regaining its independence after the First World War.
- Jackson Park - Template:Convert; 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.
- Lincoln Park - Template:Convert; 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.
- Marquette Park - Template:Convert; the largest park in southwest Chicago, it has a golf course and many other attractions.
- Millennium Park - Template:Convert; Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the Art Institute of Chicago in Grant Park.
- Park No. 474 - 0.01 acres (0.0040 ha); the city and state's smallest park, with a total area of only 54 square feet, completely occupied by a sculpture.
- Washington Park - Template:Convert; located on the south side, it was the proposed location for the 2016 Summer Olympics Stadium.
Arts Partners in ResidenceEdit
Members of the Arts Partners provide qualityTemplate:Citation needed 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 organizationsTemplate:Citation needed serving park patrons and citizens of the public.
- Albany Park Theater Project (Eugene Field Park)
- 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).
GalleryEdit
- BuckinghamFountain ChicagoIL.jpg
Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park
- Portage Park Chicago flagstone steps.JPG
Flagstone steps in Portage Park
- Jackson Park Osaka Garden Chicago.jpg
Osaka Japanese Garden in Jackson Park
- Lincolnzoo fg01.jpg
- Jefferson Park in Chicago.JPG
Jefferson Park with a view of the fieldhouse designed by Clarence Hatzfeld
- Lincoln Park Chicago 040124.jpg
Lincoln Park in winter
- 2005-10-13 2880x1920 chicago above millennium park.jpg
Millennium Park
- Montrose Beach Chicago 060820.jpg
Montrose Beach
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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- Rand McNally "Chicago & Cook County StreetFinder", 1996.
External linksEdit
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