An Open Space Plan for East Garfield Park

Home , Garfield Park (Chicago), Lake Street Elevated, Patrick Nash

An Open Space Plan for East Garﬁeld Park

Produced by East Garﬁeld Park Neighborhood Development Council & Openlands October 2005 Financial support for this planning effort and for implementation of initial projects was received in part from:

Prince Charitable Trusts Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation

The Partners wish to acknowledge cooperation and support from:

Local community-based organizations including Bethany Brethren Community Center, Greater Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce, Marshall High School, and the Albany-Carroll Arts Building.

Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr, Alderman Ed H. Smith, Alderman Madeline L. Haithcock and Alderman Michael D. Chandler for their support of our Open Space Plan and vacant lot gardens in East Garfield Park.

Shane Repking, Adam Gibson and Mike Tomas for researching vacant property for different land use options in the neighborhood.

Clifton Cooper for sharing Housing Plans from the Concerned Citizens of East Garfield Park.

Dr. Christopher Reed for sharing his knowledge of recent active citizens that have positively affected the community of East Garfield Park.

Garfield Area Partnership (GAP) for sharing their community plan and promoting open space with the residents they work with.

MacArthur Foundation for their support for the LISC, New Community Program in East Garfield Park.

Written and Compiled by: Jaime Zaplatosch, Urban Greening Division, Openlands 25 East Washington, Suite 1650, Chicago, IL, 60602 312/863-6270 www.openlands.org Table of Contents

Map of East Garfield Park 04

About the Partners 05

Open Space Goals of the Partners 06

Open Space Planning Goals 07

Categories of Open Space and Goals Residential and Street Landscaping 08 Vacant Lots 09 Small and Large Parks 10 Schools and Youth Centers 11 Arts and Culture 12 Business and Industrial Areas 13

Priorities 14

Neighborhood Overview 15

History of the Parks in East Garfield Park 19 Famous Residents 23

Historic Buildings 24

Appendices 1. Local Contacts and Resources 25 2. References 27 East Garﬁ East Neighborhood Park eld

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N. Western Avenue About the Partners

East Garﬁeld Park Residents Over 80 individual residents participated in the Open Space Planning process over a five month period. These residents are thanked for giving their time to improving their community. The residents will be leading our plan into action through meetings and projects.

EGP residents taking part in the Plan:

David Amarathithada Adam Gibson Chris Loutris Luis Rodriguez Ronald Berdell Shannon Handy Earl Marten David Rogers Sharon Bladholm Cynthia Anthony Harris Casey Mezinskas Karen Ryan Sue Blair Sharon Herron Ronnie McGhee Bettye Sherrod Doris Brown Christine Herron Gerald Mitchell Faye Sigers Deloris Carter Williams Cynthia Holman Linda Morris William Siegmond Jerry Croswell Geneva Jackson Tinelle Morris Gail Thompson Mamie Dean Velma Johnson Laurie Palmer Tisha Vaska Nat Dean Barbara Keller Edgar Parrot Ramsey Vasser Holly Deniston Marshel Keller Taylor Posey Jeannetta Wallace Richard Dobbins LaShone Kelly Tabresha Posey Carol Williams Mike Doyle Courtney Killingsworth Anddra-Nee Posey Dicye Williams Joyce Durante Danielle Killingsworth Erma Purnell Stanley Williams Whittni Evans Ernestine King Shane Repking Octavia Young Joyce Fernandes Pedro Lauarneres Harry Rhodes George Zarembe Vernon Ford Della Lewis Vanessa Richards Vonyell Foster Pamela Longstreet Lisa Roberts

East Garﬁeld Neighborhood Development Council (Council) was started in 2005 as a result of the New Communities Program’s Quality of Life plan for East Garfield Park, in conjunction with the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance. The Council was created to provide the framework for maintaining a high level of local stakeholder participation in the process of ensuring that the Quality of Life plan is carried out. The Council is also the forum for continuing to vet community issues and concerns. The Council is comprised of seven committees formed around the focus areas cited in the Quality of Life plan: housing, education, cultural arts, community health and safety, youth, business and workforce development, and land use and open space. These committees are responsible for addressing issues and managing projects within their focus areas. The Council includes a diverse group of people, some of whom have experience serving on boards and committees and others who have never participated in this kind of work before. Leadership development, team-building, problem solving and other technical trainings are available to the Council’s general and committee membership.

Openlands Openlands is a not-profit conservation organization that works to preserve and enhance open space throughout northeastern Illinois. Its urban greening program has three missions:

1) to train and work with volunteer TreeKeepers to help monitor and care for the health of the urban forest on both public and private spaces; 2) to work with and support empowerment of local residents from neighborhoods throughout the city to develop and help carry out community-based open space plans; and 3) to provide public and school-based education and outreach on the value of green infrastructure and nature in the city.

05 Open Space Goals of the Partners

Many members of the Land Use and Open Space committee participated in the larger community planning process in East Garfield that is led by Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance as part of the New Communities Program. Within our committee we came up with goals that we wish to accomplish, and we have included the Quality of Life plan goals here as well. These goals sought to integrate the changing face of the community - housing, transportation, business and industrial development - with educational, cultural and social institutions and services.

The Land Use and Open Space Committee has focused on four main goals that it wishes to accomplish:

• Ensure that new development contains sufficient open space. • Ensure that neighborhood parks are adequately developed, maintained and programmed. • Ensure that land ownership opportunities are preserved for local residents. • Ensure that emerging development and zoning changes respond to the land use strategies.

With the completion of this open space plan, the partners hope that any other plans for East Garfield Park, such as those developed by the City of Chicago, the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, private schools, community and economic development organizations and private developers, incorporate the goals and site priorities of this plan within those plans. This open space plan - a living, changing document - has and will continue to integrate its content with all of the others.

06 Open Space Planning Goals

Quality open space is vital to the quality of life in any neighborhood. In a neighborhood like East Garfield Park where there are many unsightly vacant lots with much potential, as well as an influx of development, it is crucial to determine what types of goals the community has for open space. Open spaces are areas in a neighborhood where people create and celebrate life together, culture is practiced and food is grown, where people share their time and watch each other’s children. No community is whole or healthy without adequate and accessible open space and open space activities. East Garfield, though it has vacant space, has many opportunities for more accessible green, open space.

Goals for local open space developed by the Land Use and Open Space Committee: • Preserve open/green spaces in the midst of land development. • Develop an open space plan in conjunction with residents and agencies. This plan should emphasize smaller neighborhood-scale parks, community gardens and other public green spaces, especially in underserved areas, in walkable distances. • Publicize the open space plan developed and promote it as a guideline for agencies and City representatives. • Promote environmental stewardship and capitalize on the “green” resources and character of the community (such as the proposed Community Food Center and Home Composting Program through the Conservatory). • Coordinate streetscape and landscape upgrades to establish a quality neighborhood image. • Develop short and long-term strategies for the re-use of the estimated 1,750 private and city- owned vacant lots in East Garfield Park to include parks or open space.

07 Categories of Open Space and Goals

This plan lists the following kinds of open space, suggestions for improving them, and some specific targets for projects and action:

Residential and Street Landscaping Includes parkways, boulevards, and private homes. Parkways are located adjacent to the sidewalks parallel to the street and outside of almost every residence or other structure. They are small pieces of land that can be the perfect place to plant trees for shade or brightened with perennials and annuals. Boulevards can be greened by block clubs to improve their street. In East Garfield Park, individual residential landscaping is the most important to current residents. We want to use this as a step into greater community greening efforts.

Recommendations • Select, create and promote consistent unifiers to connect the community, such as plants in own yards, planters/garbage cans on blocks with one symbol • Parkways planted together on blocks • Select a few model blocks to demonstrate the goals of the Open Space Plan • Create an affordable resource list (including classes) for residents interested in landscaping / gardening • Use residential and street landscaping to beautify the neighborhood, take ownership of the community • Use individual homes to get residents excited about larger green projects for the entire neighborhood • Encourage more East Garfield Park residents to come to plant giveaway days at Garfield Park Conservatory.

A front yard on the 3500 W Adams block An example of a tree-lined parkway at California and Walnut

08 Categories of Open Space and Goals

Vacant Lots Vacant lots can be used in many ways in the neighborhood. The first priority in East Garfield Park is to create affordable, desired housing. However, these larger masses of homes should also include open space amenities, as the community members prefer. These open spaces add to the greater quality of life for the residents. The committee suggested using the vacant lots that we do have for green spaces, art creation, urban agriculture, and gaming (such as paint balling or other athletic recreation).

Recommendations • Determine status of vacant lots with the aid of Department of Planning and Development, including the sites identified for open space projects • Use urban agriculture to reflect demonstration garden practices; intergenerational teaching, health awareness, entrepreneurship opportunities • Do more site control of vacant lots, making sure that they are kept clean as to City standards and reporting those who don’t uphold these regulations • Feasibility plans for costs of particular types of projects, such as an urban agriculture project in the community

An example of a great prospect for a vacant lot garden An existing vacant lot garden - New Horizons - at 3523-27 W Adams at Van Buren and Central Park

09 Categories of Open Space and Goals

Small and Large Parks Even though this community has a remarkable landmark park at its western edge, there is a need for small, local parks in walking distance to serve the very young, seniors and others with mobility problems and to create easily accessible community gathering spaces. There is also a desire for improving programming and facilities in existing parks, including insuring maintenance and providing upgrades.

Recommendations In our planning, the activities in Garfield Park were primarily focused on including: • more playground space • better cleanups of the pond and litter • adding a small golf course • adding color or art to the park • using the tennis courts for a skating rink again • promotion of boating/canoeing/fishing in the lagoon • increased lighting • more seating areas • more security and police presence in the park.

In other areas of the neighborhood, the following were recommended: • Dog park • Athletic/water parks • Tennis courts/ice rink • Skating rink • basketball courts • more playground space

Overall, our committee wanted to focus on: • More community volunteers • Presentation of community requests to area manager of the Chicago Park District • Reaching out into the community for more support • A CAPS/police presentation to insure that parks are safe for us and our families • Seeking foundation support to create other parks on the east side of East Garfield • Businesses to adopt cleanup areas • More organized, regular cleanups of the park by residents and the Chicago Park District

10 Categories of Open Space and Goals

Schools and Youth Centers Schools and youth centers are prime locations for greening projects and related programs. They support environmental education for the future and healthy lifestyles (physical activity and eating fresh produce) for many of our youth.

Recommendations • More activities/workshops as part of Conservatory tours/field trips • Family “dinner workshops” - building connections to the Conservatory as well as within families • Expose more young people to Garfield Park Conservatory • Get the word out to teachers about opportunities for using the Conservatory, give them scheduling preference • Get City to follow through on promised Campus Parks • Support existing school garden projects • Recruit Openlands Neighborhood Youth Garden Corps crew from local high schools and youth centers

Al Raby High School - Garden Installation in May, 2005 Marshall High School’s Urban Agriculture Project

11 Categories of Open Space and Goals

Arts and Culture Gardens and Open Space sites offer fantastic opportunities to create and showcase local art and cultural objects as well as performance space for dance, readings, music, drama and every other type of cultural activity. Murals, sculpture, mosaic tiles, containers, benches and other structures beautify the neighborhood and show that special people live here. The residents of East Garfield would like to see more:

Recommendations • Art at schools and parks • Community defining markings designed by a local artist to connect the community • Murals - free standing or on buildings • Signage for Conservatory - lit signage, banners on north side of Central Park viaduct, banners to announce hours, shows so to make the conservatory inviting for residents

The Artists’ Garden at Albany and Carroll The Artists’ Garden at Albany and Carroll

12 Categories of Open Space and Goals

Business and Industrial Areas Beautifying these well-used areas is a valuable public as well as a private benefit. Creating a small park near businesses encourages foot traffic and slows prospective shoppers down, which in turn fosters more shopping and buying. Madison Street and Kedzie Avenue are the main business districts and the north east section of East Garfield Park is the main industrial area. At minimum plants and trees installed on the perimeter create a park-like environment that upgrades the appearance and health of the neighborhood where these sites are located. The community involved in creating the Plan has recommended that these areas will be focused on after the other priorities have been addressed. Once we are ready to work on these areas, we should:

Recommendations • Use ICNC (Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago) recommendations • Make the business and industrial areas more welcoming • Eventually employ businesses to take care of their lands, even if East Garfield Park is not “their community” • Promote the message that improving the appearances of the businesses leads to more local customers who will support a business that supports the community

13 Priorities

1. Action: Present plan to Aldermen Chandler, Smith, Haithcock and Burnett, as well as to the Regional Superintendent from Chicago Park District and the Police District Lead(s):

2. Action: Empower residents improve their personal open space by: • Creating a resource book for residents, individual home owner’s beautification • Connecting residents to free or low cost gardening programs • Create models and guidelines for parkway, front and backyard designs • Ensure that residents are aware of free plant distribution events at the Conservatory Lead(s):

3. Action: Distribute garbage cans (wrought iron) around the community Lead(s):

4. Action: Create and install temporary signage to mark a gateway (5th Ave/Madison/California) Lead(s):

5. Action: Create new playground space and athletic spaces Lead(s):

6. Action: Map and research vacant lot ownership/plans; approach owners with models, suggestions for greening Lead(s):

7. Action: Create models and guidelines for greening block clubs, vacant lots, and business strips, including resources and unifiers. These unifiers would be implemented throughout the community. Lead(s):

14 Neighborhood Overview

Named for the 185-acre park that serves as its western border, East Garfield Park is a 130-year-old community with big landmarks like the Gold Dome field house and Garfield Park Conservatory, and smaller ones like Edna’s Restaurant on Madison, beautiful greystone homes and a mosaic-clad elevated station on the CTA Green Line.

Built to house workers in nearby factory corridors, East Garfield Park grew to a crowded peak of 70,000 people in 1950. Today, with far fewer factory jobs nearby and thousands of housing units lost over the years, there are just 20,800 people here - and 1,750 vacant lots. This represents an opportunity because it means we can build a new community that serves existing residents, honors its past and welcomes newcomers.

East Garfield Park has a unique potential to become a “green” neighborhood where gardens, landscape businesses and environmental land uses are commonplace. It can be a center of arts and culture and a diverse community where people of many incomes and backgrounds become neighbors. With its strong transportation resources and a growing population, the neighborhood can also support vibrant retail clusters to serve both neighborhood residents and those passing through.

Achieving this vision will require a new framework for discussing development issues and making decisions about what is best for the community. Therefore, the first strategy of the quality of life plan is the creation of the Garfield Park Community Development Council. Much more will also be needed, from ambitious land- use planning to academic improvements at local schools, stronger opportunities for our youth and healthier individuals and families.

15 Neighborhood Overview

Housing, Transportation, Social and Ethnic History East Garfield Park was mostly unbroken prairie in 1869 when annexed to the young City of Chicago. But the extension of the Madison Street streetcar in 1874 and the Lake Street elevated train in the 1890s brought rapid residential and commercial development. In 1869 the Illinois legislature established the West Park Commission and the 185-acre Central Park, the sprawling green space that forms the western border of our neighborhood. The park was renamed to honor President James A. Garfield after his assassination in 1881.

Thousands came to the neighborhood for jobs in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor to the north and the 55- acre Sears Roebuck complex on the south, which opened in 1905. First were the Irish and Germans, who swelled the head count to 56,000 by 1920, and who witnessed (and took part in) the 1928 construction of the Golden Dome in Garfield Park. In the 1930s, Italians and Russian Jews joined the melting pot, and after World War II African-Americans from nearby West Side neighborhoods as well as crowded areas on the South Side began migrating into the community.

Many found housing in modest two-flats and cottages, which are interspersed throughout East Garfield Park and especially prominent in the area north of Lake Street. But from its inception the neighborhood also had a variety of more elaborate homes. The boulevards of Jackson, Warren and Washington were lined with brick mansions, beautiful row houses with arched entryways and decorative Italianate structures, and two Frank Lloyd Wright apartment buildings. Hundreds survive today and represent one of our neighborhood’s priceless historic assets.

Many of those larger homes were subdivided into smaller kitchenettes during and after the Depression to provide low-cost housing. By 1950 the overcrowded neighborhood was reaching its historic population peak of 70,000, with only 16 percent of homes owner-occupied.

This was also the era of suburban growth and new highways, including the Congress (later renamed Eisenhower) Expressway, whose construction through the middle of the neighborhood in 1956 caused displacement of hundreds of families. The east-west highway created a barrier that effectively cut off the south section of the neighborhood, including the Sears Roebuck complex, which is why that area today is commonly considered part of the North Lawndale neighborhood.

Another major change was construction of the 1,126- unit Rockwell Gardens public housing development in1961, just east of the railroad viaduct at Talman Avenue. Though conceived as a step up for working-class residents, Rockwell followed the pattern of the Chicago Housing Authority’s other high-rise developments and became, over the decades, a poorly maintained and isolated complex that housed mostly very-low-income families. Today, as part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation, Rockwell is being redeveloped into a 780-unit mixed-income community that can play an important role in stabilizing the southeastern section of our neighborhood.

16 Neighborhood Overview

Our Community Since the 1950s, East Garfield Park has been a predominantly African-American community, when proud newcomers from the South Side and southern states declared that “the West Side is the best side.” For many years the neighborhood was a great friendly place to live, where concerned neighbors looked out for one another’s needs.

But the neighborhood was already wearing out when the first waves of African Americans moved in, and the situation was made worse by neglectful landlords, overcrowded schools, poverty and a shrinking base of industrial jobs. Tensions were high by 1968 when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, triggering riots and fires that spread along Madison Street and destroyed many businesses. In the 1970s, thousands of families that had come here for a better life moved again “out west” to the Austin community, the suburbs or the city’s South Side.

Today, Madison Street and diagonal Fifth Avenue cut through large areas of vacant lots and empty buildings: evidence that the population has dropped by 45,000 since 1960, to the 20,881 counted in 2000. Fortu- nately, a number of hardy residents remained, sank their roots into the community and raised their families. Some of these same residents have rolled up their sleeves to make our neighborhood a better place for themselves and for generations to follow.

For decades the Midwest Community Council (MCC) played a leadership role in the community and beyond. Under the leadership of the late Nancy Jefferson, MCC helped Harold Washington become Chicago’s first African-American mayor. Other groups including the Garfield Area Partnership, East Garfield Coalition, churches, block clubs and arts groups provided avenues for residents to play a role in defining their neighborhood as a thriving, livable place.

In the 1990s, our neighbors and others throughout the West and South Sides fought for and won a $300 million rehabilitation of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Green Line elevated structure (and later the reconstruction of a historic station at Conservatory-Central Park). In 2000, Cook County proposed building a new domestic violence courthouse on 13 acres at Congress and Homan, which would have displaced local families. The Concerned Citizens of East Garfield and local aldermanic office protested that the plan was created without local input and would not benefit community residents. In response, an alternate site was found.

Public investment has also played a role, with the Chicago Public Schools renovating the former Lucy Flower High School to become a campus for two small schools, including the new Al Raby High School. The first 18 units of the Rockwell Gardens redevelopment were completed on Madison in 2004 and more are under construction. And the city has released Requests for Proposals for development of a mixed-use site at Madison and Kedzie and a collection of vacant residential lots north of Lake Street. The city also provided $1.4 million in grants and tax credits for the Switching Station Artist Lofts at 15 S. Homan, which provide live/work space for low- and moderate-income artists. A unique component of our neighborhood’s redevelopment is the focus on creating a “green” community. Mayor Richard M. Daley’s vision for Lake Street is to create a green industrial corridor where environmentally oriented businesses can take root. Landscaping businesses are filling once-vacant lots with shrubs, trees, mulch, trucks and equipment–not to mention local jobs. Another resource is the Chicago Center for Green Technology, a demonstration center at Sacramento and Franklin that offers education and exhibits about environmentally sustainable practices and resources.

17 Neighborhood Overview

Location The open space planning area is centered in the Chicago Department of Planning and Development designated Redevelopment Area of East Garfield Park, but projects within a reasonable distance of the perimeter have been included. The area commonly known as East Garfield Park is part of 1990 Census City Community Area 27. The boundaries for this planning effort are Chicago Avenue on the north, Flournoy to the south, Western on the east and Hamlin on the west.

Today, the community is officially designated as a Redevelopment Area by the Chicago Department of Planning. In addition there are 3 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts within East Garfield Park, numbers 115, 52, and 95.

Previous Studies and Plans In more recent years, three plans have addressed the needs of Open Space in East Garfield Park: One is the City of Chicago’s CitySpace: An Open Space Plan for Chicago, published in January of 1998. According to the Chicago Park District’s Land Policies Plan published in 1990, East Garfield will always be considered adequately equipped with open space (because of Garfield Park, which is considered a Citywide Park). However, the CitySpace goals to the year 2020 include a balance of regional and local open space. Because of the distances and types of parks set in the City by the Park District (City Space, p. 22), there are areas in the central and northeast sections of East Garfield Park that do not have their open space needs met.

In early 2000 the Concerned Citizens of East Garfield Park proposed a Housing Plan with architectural renderings that would focus on the areas between California to Western and Madison to Van Buren. The plan consisted of two developments: the Homes of East Garfield and East Garfield Square. Each included green and play space in them for the children in the developments.

Another plan is the 20/20 Community Development Plan, created by Garfield Area Partnership (GAP) in September 2002. This plan includes open space and access to it as part of their community health and land use discussions. In it, the need for green spaces in every two-block radius is expressed, whether these green spaces be parks, community gardens, urban agriculture or playgrounds.

The most recent community plan is that of the New Communities Program, through Local Support Initiative Corporation (LISC/Chicago). The inception of the work in East Garfield began in 2003. This comprehensive neighborhood planning process began with the community in April of 2004 and the Quality of Life plan was endorsed in April of 2005. This plan was our guide throughout the Open Space Planning in East Garfield Park.

18 History of the Parks in East Garﬁeld Park

As early as 1847, Mayor James Curtiss understood the importance of open public places and recommended the acquisition of “at least one public ground of from 10 to 20 acres” in each division of the city. At his inauguration in 1850, he supported the development of public areas because they “beautify and adorn the city; they promote the public health, by inducing open air and recreation and by acting as ventilators in the midst of human lives...”.

In his 1900 annual message, Mayor Carter Harrison stated that it was “common sense that by providing breathing spots and recreation grounds, a long step will be taken toward reducing the number of youth- ful criminals.” He urged the creation of permanent parks and playgrounds, referring to them as “breathing spots...where the young and old might flock for rest and recreation.”

Garﬁeld Park In 1869, the Illinois state legislature established the West Park Commission, which was responsible for three large parks and interlinking boulevards. The centerpiece of the system, the 185-acre Central Park, was renamed to honor President James A. Garfield (1831- 1881) after his assassination in 1881. Plans for the entire ensemble of Humboldt, Garfield and Douglas Park had been completed ten years earlier, by William Le Baron Jenney, best known today as the father of the skyscraper. As ambitious plans could not be realized all at once, Garfield Park developed in stages, beginning with the east lagoon.

Jens Jensen, a Danish immigrant who had begun as a laborer for the West Park System in the 1880s, worked his way up to Superintendent of Humboldt Park a decade later. At that time, the West Park System was entrenched in political graft. In 1900, the commissioners fired Jensen because of his efforts to fight the corruption. Five years later, during major political reforms, new commissioners appointed him General Superintendent and Chief Landscape Architect. Deteriorating and unfinished sections of the parks allowed Jensen to experiment with his evolving Prairie style. For instance, when he took over, each of the three parks had a small, poorly maintained conservatory. Rather than repairing these structures, which each displayed similar collections, Jensen decided to replace them with a single centralized facility. Designing in conjunction with an engineering firm, Hitchings and Company, Jensen conceived the Garfield Park Conservatory as a work of landscape gardening under glass. Considered revolutionary when it opened to the public in 1908, the form of the building emulated a “great Midwestern haystack,” while inside the rooms were wonderful compositions of water, rock, and plants.

In 1928, the West Park Commission constructed the “Gold Dome Building” in Garfield Park to provide a new administrative headquarters for the West Park Commission. The structure was designed by architects Michaelsen and Rognstad, who were also responsible for other notable buildings, including the Humboldt, Douglas and LaFollette Park Field houses, and the On Leong Chinese Merchant’s Association Building in Chinatown. In 1934, Garfield Park became part of the Chicago Park District, when the city’s 22 independent park commissions merged into a single citywide agency. At that time, the administrative offices were no longer needed and the “Gold Dome” building became Garfield Park’s field house.

19 History of the Parks in East Garﬁeld Park

Garﬁeld Park Conservatory The structure, one of the largest conservatories in the world, was quite unlike its nineteenth century pre- decessors. Inside, Jensen displayed plants in the ground as opposed to potted containers. Jensen also hid pipes and other mechanical systems behind beautiful walls of stratified stonework, and created magnificent views across the landscape. The centerpiece of the Garfield Park Conservatory, the aquatic house or fern room, includes some of Jensen’s most beautiful stone and water elements. Jensen marveled that the waterfall looked so natural that people often assumed that the glass structure was built around it. He wanted his idealized “prairie waterfall,” to sound just right, but the stone mason made it sound like “an abrupt moun- tain cascade.” The workman became frustrated when Jensen had him dismantle and rebuild the waterfall several times. Jensen suggested that the workman listen to Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song.” After hearing the music, the mason constructed the waterfall perfectly so that the “water tinkled gently from ledge to ledge, as it should in a prairie country.” Jensen severed his ties with the West Park System in 1920.

Despite this, chief florist August Koch, who began at the Garfield Park Conservatory in 1912, made some notable improvements. Koch’s work includes converting the original conifer house to an aroid house in 1923. He made this transition in a manner that was quite sympathetic to Jensen’s philosophies. By the late 1920s, the conservatory’s attendance had reached half a million visitors per year. As a result, a major show house addition - Horticulture Hall - and new propagating houses were constructed in 1928. Over the next several decades, however, the structure began to deteriorate. The Chicago Park District responded with major construction projects in the 1950s, including the demolition of the Palm House and its replacement in fiberglass instead of glass.

Nonetheless, attendance had begun to wane, and the conservatory lost its popularity. Today, Garfield Park Conservatory is in the midst of a renaissance. In 1994, the Chicago Park District embarked on a multi-million dollar restoration plan that has brought vast improvements to the aging facility. In 1995, the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance was created, a private organization that has raised millions of dollars for educational programming, community relations, and visitor services. Attendance and interest in the historic facility has grown tremendously in the last few years, to the point the Garfield Park Conservatory is now well on its way to becoming, once again, one of Chicago’s premier cultural institutions.

20 History of the Parks in East Garﬁeld Park

St. Louis Park St. Louis Park is one of many small parks created by the city’s Bureau of Parks and Recreation to meet increasing recreational demands in post-World War II Chicago. The bureau began planning this East Garfield Park playlot in 1956, and soon improved the site with playground equipment and a basketball court. Following its general practice, the bureau named the new park for adjacent St. Louis Avenue, in turn named for the Mississippi River town. The park, the street, and the Missouri city all bear the name of King Louis IX of France (1214-1270), who led the Seventh Crusade to the Holy Land, and died on another twenty years later. In 1959, the city transferred the property to the Chicago Park District, which added a spray pool in 1970, and constructed a new soft surface playground in 1991.

Gladys Park Playlot Gladys Park is one of many small parks created by the Bureau of Parks and Recreation to meet the growing recreational demands of post-World War II Chicago. The city acquired this .29-acre property along West Gladys Avenue in the East Garfield Park neighborhood in 1947. The Bureau developed the site as a playlot shortly thereafter, transferring it to the Chicago Park District in 1959.

The park takes its name from the adjacent street. Gladys Avenue is named for Gladys Gunderson, a member of the Norwegian-American family that formed a successful 19th-century Chicago real estate firm, S.T. Gunderson & Sons. The family named another city street, Langley Avenue, for a second relative, Esther Gunderson Langley. Langley Park also bears her name.

Sain Park The Near West Side, one of Chicago’s most fashionable neighborhoods in the mid-nineteenth century, had experienced significant decline by the 1940s and 1950s. The Chicago Housing Authority responded by replacing deteriorated buildings with several new multi-unit public housing developments in the area. In 1950, the City of Chicago’s Bureau of Parks and Recreation created the 3/4-acre Sain Park to serve the area’s growing population. Improved with playground equipment, a playing field, wading pool, and small brick recreation building, the park was named in honor of Harry Sain (1893-1975), alderman of the surrounding 27th ward for 38 years. (At the time, the city regularly named parks for the standing aldermen of the wards in which the sites were located.)

In 1959, the city transferred Sain Park, along with more than 250 other properties, to the Chicago Park District. The nearby Rockwell Gardens housing development was built the same year, and Sain Park began serving as a backyard to families who lived there. The park was slightly enlarged in 1960, when a portion of West Monroe Street was closed to traffic and the park district extended the park into the right-of-way. After demolishing Sain Park’s recreation building in 1978, the park district undertook a major rehabilitation project a few years later, constructing new tennis and volleyball courts, installing new playground equipment, and replanting the surrounding landscape. In 1991, the park district removed the playground equipment, targeting Sain Park’s programs to teenagers and adults. At the same time, a major playground improvement at Rockwell Gardens Park provided a nearby alternative for younger children.

21 History of the Parks in East Garﬁeld Park

Horan Park In 1924, the City of Chicago’s Bureau of Parks and Recreation began leasing land to create a small park in the rapidly growing East Garfield Park neighborhood. The new park soon included playground equipment, a small brick recreation building, and a playing field that was flooded in the winter for ice skating. The city named the park for Albert J. Horan (1894--1960), who had been elected alderman of the surrounding 29th ward the previous year. (At the time, the city regularly named parks for the standing aldermen of the wards in which the sites were located.) Having served as an aviator in World War I, Horan was co-founder of Cornwall Post of the American Legion. In addition to serving seven years as alderman, he was Democratic Committeeman of the 29th Ward for two decades, and Municipal Court bailiff for as long a period.

Horan Park’s land was officially purchased by the city in 1948. Five years later, the park was reduced slightly in size, when the southeast corner was taken for the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway. The city transferred Horan Park to the Chicago Park District in 1959. In the mid-1970s, the park district enlarged Horan Park by greening over South Albany Avenue at the edge of the park, and acquiring two acres between Albany and Kedzie Avenues. Ball fields were installed in the expanded park, and new playground equipment and basketball courts were added in the old park. In the late 1990s, Horan Park’s fieldhouse underwent a substantial rehabilitation project after suffering damage from a 1992 fire.

Nancy Jefferson Park (formerly Marigold Park) The Chicago Park District purchased land for this park in 1970, with the help of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The new park was intended to provide much-needed recreational space for young children in an industrial area of the East Garfield Park neighborhood. The park district officially designated the playlot Marigold Park in 1974, when a number of parks were named for trees and plants. The marigold is a hardy flower, blooming under blazing sun when everything else wilts. One type of marigold, the pot marigold, or calendula, came to Europe as early as the 11th century with crusaders returning from the Holy Land. In Europe, the name marigold probably developed from the association with the Virgin Mary and for the flower’s gold color. The term “pot marigold” refers to the fact that it was boiled in cooking pots and used as food and hair dye. The scientific name calendula is Latin for “the first day of the month.” Pot marigolds were routinely planted in European monastery gardens because they would bloom every month of the year, providing a nearly constant supply of flowers for churches.

22 History of the Parks in East Garﬁeld Park

Famous Residents Dr. Alice Wynekoop lived at 3406 W Monroe and in the early 1900s practiced and maintained her office in the basement suite. She was widely known for her medical career and charitable activities. Her daughter, Catherine Wynekoop, was also a doctor at Cook County Hospital.

Patrick Nash lived at 3234 W Washington, was a City of Chicago political chief in the 1930s that helped create Chicago’s well-known “Democratic Machine”.

Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) lived at 3109 W Warren. He was a newspaper columnist who did commentaries through his character “Mr. Dooley”.

Ms Grace A Caldwell of 3159 W Washington was an Opera singer in Italy who returned to Chicago to teach voice, piano and drama at a school in Joliet.

David W Clark was a pioneer to Chicago, when its residential count was at 50,000. He lived at 3125 W Warren, was Alderman of the 10th Ward (in the early 1870s) and became a member of the state legislature in 1878.

Prior to her death on October 18, 1992, Nancy B. Jefferson was recognized as one of the premier grassroots community organizers in the Nation. She served as president and chief executive officer of the Midwest Community Council, a nonprofit grassroots community organization for more than 25 years. She spent a lifetime helping others. She became a friend to the friendless and provided hope for the hopeless, which led to her being affectionately called the Mother Theresa of the West Side. She developed several social service programs which are currently in place, including the Chicago Parent Union, and Crime and Parent Interven- tion. Her commitment, dedication, and zeal for excellence netted her an appointment to the Chicago Police Board by former Mayor Jane Byrne. Governor Jim Edgar saw her talents and appointed her to the Illinois Human Rights Commission in 1990. She was also a confidante of the late Mayor Harold Washington.headed the Midwest Community Council, located at Fulton and Kedzie in East Garfield Park, for years and was on the police board. recipients, the disabled, the poor, single parents, and those who were disenfranchised.

Ms. Fannie B. Woodley of 3026 W Warren was active in the Chicago Urban League for many years, in the Women’s Division. She worked at Waller/Lincoln Park High School as the Library clerk from 1957 to 1984.

Edna Davis, owner of Edna’s Restaurant on Madison and Kedzie, not only has held down the Madison Street business district for many years, but also fed the civil rights workers after Dr. King’s visit to the City in the late 1960s.

Former President of the Concerned Citizens of East Garfield Park, Luster Jackson is a noted west side activist who is also the president of Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights. This organization was founded in the 1950s as part of a national network dedicated to opposing the constitutional infringements of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

Christopher Reed, Associate Professor of History and former Director of the Center for African and African American Studies at Roosevelt University, has published articles on black Chicago history in the Illinois Historical Journal, Journal of Ethnic Studies, Michigan Historical Review, and Journal of Black Studies, as well as written two books and contributed to several more.

Rachel Ridley died at age 75 in May of 1985. Mrs. Ridley was for 60 years a leader in Chicago’s black community and for 18 years an administrator with the city’s Commission on Human Relations. In 1980, then-Mayor Jane Byrne named Mrs. Ridley director of the human relations commission, after she had held various positions in the agency.”She has been a legend to this community and to Operation PUSH,” said Rev. Willie Barrow, national executive director of the civil rights organization. “PUSH will certainly miss her, and the community will certainly miss her.”

23 Historic Buildings

Waller Apartments Address: 2840-58 W. Walnut St. Year Built: 1895 Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 2, 1994 Commissioned by prominent real estate developer Edward Carson Waller to meet the demand for affordable housing, these apartments are considered among the earliest examples of subsidized housing in Chicago. The simplified design of the facade indicates the departure of the young architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, from traditional design toward the more-abstract, modern principles for which he was later internationally known.

King-Nash House Address: 3234 W. Washington Blvd. Year Built: 1901 Architect: George W. Maher Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: February 10, 1988 Designed by one of the most inventive early 20th-century architects, this house is an amalgamation of the Sullivanesque, Colonial Revival, and Prairie styles. It was originally commissioned by wealthy businessman Patrick J. King, but its most well-known occupant was the influential Irish-Catholic politician Patrick A. Nash, who lived here from 1925 to 1943, when Washington Boulevard was one of the city’s most-fashionable addresses. (All photos from the City of Chicago web site, by Bob Thall)

Warren Avenue Congregational Church 3101 West Warren Boulevard, East Garfield Park (presently New Greater St. John Community Missionary Baptist Church). This was the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference team as it sought to organize West Side black Chicagoans to “end slums.” James Bevel and Bernard LaFayette were the critical leaders in devising a plan of action. The church was also part of Dr. King’s crusade in 1966, one of the few Chicago churches that stood behind him, when the political fires were hot.

Waller Apartments King-Nash House

24 Local Contacts and Resources

Neighborhood Contacts Chicago Public Library - LEGLER BRANCH 115 S. Pulaski Road 60624 (312) 746-7730, (312) 746-7731

Alderman Ed H. Smith – 28th ward Office: 118 N. Pulaski Chicago, IL 60624 Phone: 773-533-0900 Fax: 773-533-6199

Alderman Madeline L. Haithcock - 2nd ward Office: 449 E. 35th Street Chicago, IL 60616 [email protected] Phone: 773-924-0014 Fax: 773-924-5950

Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. – 27th Ward Office: 1463 W. Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL 60622 [email protected] Phone: 312-432-1995 Fax: 312-432-1049

Michael D. Chandler - 24th Ward Office: 4325 W. Roosevelt Chicago, IL 60624 [email protected] Phone: 773-522-2400 Fax: 773-553-6199

City of Chicago Note: for all general questions, call 311 or go to www.cityofchicago.org to look up a specific department Department of General Services – 312-744-LAND (5263) for information about vacant land, by address, in Chicago Department of Planning and Development – 312-744-4190 Department of Streets and Sanitation – 312-744-4611 and tell them your ward to be connect to its direct office. Parkway trees, free woodchips, garbage removal, rodent control, towing, graffiti Department of Water Management – 312-744-7001 for permits for community gardeners to use fire hydrants to water their gardens

Greencorps Chicago Program of the City of Chicago Department of Environment that provides plants, materials and technical assistance to community gardens through landscaping/job training. 445 N Sacramento Chicago, IL 60612 www.cityofchicago.org/environment

25 Local Contacts and Resources

Nonproﬁt Organizations Openlands Assists communities with neighborhood open space planning and provides education and technical resources for urban gardeners. 25 E Washington, Suite 1650 Chicago, IL 60602 312-427-4256 www.openlands.org

Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance Provides classes, manages urban demonstration garden the size of a city lot, and other special projects to support community initiatives. 300 N Central Park Ave Chicago, IL 60624 773-638-1766 www.garfieldconservatory.org archi-treasures Provides technical and artistic assistance for the beautification of parks and gardens. 2850 N Pulaski Road, 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60641 773-736-1040 www.architreasures.org

Chicago Botanic Garden Community Gardening division sponsors the Neighborhood Gardens program which brings new gardens or garden enhancements to sites throughout the city of Chicago, Cook and Lake counties. 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022 847-835-5440 www.chicagobotanic.org

NeighborSpace Acquires property on behalf of committed community groups that wish to preserve that property as community open space. 25 E Washington, Suite 1670 Chicago, IL 60602 312-431-0906 www.neighbor-space.org

26 References

a) http://members.aol.com/KSchessler/wizzk.html (An Unusual Tour of Chicago) b) http://www.chicagohs.org/DGBPhotoEssay/nwintro.html (Chicago Historical Society) b). http://chicagoparkdistrict.com (with extracts from The City in a Garden A Photographic History of Chicago’s Parks By Julia Sniderman Bachrach, with a Foreword by Bill Kurtis Contemporary photographs by Judith Bromlely and James Iska, with historic images from the Chicago Park District’s Special Collections.) c) http://www.chipublib.org (A Millennium Bibliography, Chicago in 1900, and others) has an East Garfield Collection located at http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/012special/egp.html d) http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/custom/landmarks/chi-landday1eastgarfield- photogallery,0,860483.photogallery?index=1 Chicago Tribune’s listing of 6 demolished buildings in East Garfield Park e) http://www.cps.k12.il.us(Chicago Public Schools) f) http://www.literarytraveler.com g) http://www.jensjensen.org, including excerpt from To Make the Prairie Speak: The Life and Art of a Forgotten Prophet, Chicago Landscape Architect Jens Jensen Harold Henderson October 25, 1985 h) http://www.cityofchicago.org i) The Quality of Life Plan for East Garfield Park: Growing A Healthy Community available at http://www.newcommunities.org/cmadocs/EGarfieldQofL2005.pdf j) Encyclopedia of Chicago, the Chicago Historical Society http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/ k) CitySpace: An open space plan for Chicago, City of Chicago, Chicago Park District and Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Published January of 1998. l) Historical Landmark building maps of the City of Chicago, http://www.ci.chi.il.us/ Landmarks/Maps/Maps.html