United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) The Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District Cook County, Illinois Name of Property County and State 1919 the commissioners placed over 600 specially-designed boulevard stop signs at every intersection in the system, the first use of fixed stop signs in the city.329 In 1921 the West Park commissioners decided to take action to try and control traffic hazards throughout the system through a series of important steps, some of which were the first of their kind in the city: They widened the drives on Sacramento Boulevard, now a major north-south artery through the west side They created rounded corners on the boulevards in order to ease turning At the rounded corners they installed “mushroom lights,” electric lights set into the pavement with a shallow domed iron cage above them. They served to light the intersection and could be driven over safely by most vehicles330 They instituted directional signs throughout the system, a method that had not yet been tried elsewhere in the city They erected a series of automated signal towers, the precursors to our modern-day stop lights. The city was still using people to direct traffic at hazardous intersections, but the West Park commissioners were convinced that these automated signals would be more economical in the long run and they had the added advantage of being there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The installation of all these safety devices was completed by 1926. Bond issues in 1905, 1915, 1923 and 1927 all helped to increase park lands, carry out improvements, build park buildings and provide maintenance to existing parks. The West Park System had been able to capitalize on the prosperity of the 1920s by passing a $10 million bond issue in 1927. With this money the West Park commissioners built twelve new buildings, including the massive new field houses in Humboldt, Garfield and Douglas parks. Even the boulevards, which often were the last areas to receive any benefit from bond issues, had $1 million spent on their rehabilitation and widening.331 As a result of reduced tax revenues and their own decades-long mismanagement, the healthy financial conditions of the late 1920s would come to a screeching halt once the last of the bonds were spent in 1928. When the Depression started in late 1929 the parks were once again facing a backlog of deferred maintenance. Shortly after the onset of the Depression it became necessary for the Illinois Emergency Relief Commission to provide labor for park and boulevard maintenance.332 By 1933 the West Park Commission was $20,000,000 in debt.333 THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT: CONSOLIDATION: 1934-1942 Following the onset of the Depression of the early 1930s, the parks, boulevards and squares were in a state of severe disrepair. The Depression also resulted in all of Chicago’s park districts being consolidated into the 329 West Chicago Park Commission 1919Annual Report. 330 West Chicago Park Commission 1921Annual Report 331 West Chicago Park Commission, 1927-1928 Annual Report, p.13. 332 Chicago Park District, First Annual Report, 5/1/1934 to 12/31/1935, p. 17. 333 Sniderman, The Historic Resources of the Chicago Park District, Section E, p.14. 142 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) The Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District Cook County, Illinois Name of Property County and State single Chicago Park District. Federal money was acquired under the WPA and the PWA programs, enabling large scale rehabilitation and additional services. This funding ceased at the beginning of World War II. Factors Leading to Consolidation of the Park Systems The 1920s were years of great contrasts, especially in the Midwest. On the one hand, business was booming. Real estate, in particular, was experiencing tremendous growth. New skyscrapers, department stores and movie palaces were filling up both Chicago’s Loop and its neighborhood commercial areas. Bungalows, courtyards and other types of apartment buildings were finally bringing many city neighborhoods to full development. The parks and boulevards, including those mentioned in the already-listed parks in The Historic Resources of the Chicago Park District and the Logan Square Boulevards Historic District, were in the heart of much of this new growth Although city life seemed to be a never-ending upward spiral of prosperity in the early 1920s, there were early signs of trouble. Throughout the decade farmers struggled with increasing costs and low returns on their crops. With farm crops providing many resources for both commerce and industry in Chicago, it was inevitable that the farm depression would have an early impact on the city. A small recession in 1924, followed by the bankruptcy of the largest streetcar line in 1926, was the first sign of trouble.334 In 1928 there was a city-wide property reassessment that delayed tax collections that year. The reassessment was followed by six years of tax strikes, further reducing income to all public functions.335 The final crushing blow came in October 1929 with the stock market crash. The Great Depression was particularly hard on Chicago since much of the city’s prosperity was based on industry, one of the sectors hardest-hit by the economic collapse.336 Between 1927 and 1931 50% of the city’s manufacturing laborers lost their jobs. In the African-American community, which had long suffered from job discrimination and which did not have the protection of labor unions, unemployment rapidly reached 50%. The atmosphere in Chicago was volatile with both strikes and tense racial confrontations. Consolidation: The Chicago Park District When the three original park systems were formed in 1869, there was a geographic logic to their boundaries. Lincoln Park and the city’s primary population and commercial centers were east of the river. On the south side, the towns of Hyde Park, South Chicago and Lake were not yet incorporated into the city. The west side, newly incorporated, would need large infusions of cash in order to create an entirely new system. Despite the logic of this separation, as early as 1873 there was discussion about consolidating the three systems to achieve greater efficiency.337 Although considered four more times in the ensuing decades, it would take the financial crisis of the 1930s to bring about the necessary change. By the early 1930s, 18 of the city’s 22 park districts were in default and/or arrears. The debt of the West Park System was the most staggering of them all. It was desirable to receive federal aid, but in order to be 334 Grossman et al, Encyclopedia of Chicago, p.6. 335 Instigated by the Association of Real Estate Taxpayers. Encyclopedia of Chicago, p. 809. 336 Ibid., pp.360-361. 337 Sniderman, The Historic Resources of the Chicago Park System, Section E, p.14. 143 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Expires 5/31/2012) The Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District Cook County, Illinois Name of Property County and State eligible it would be necessary to streamline operations and bring the many systems together to operate as one unit. The consolidation vote of 1933 brought together the three original districts as well as nineteen newer districts that had been created since the park legislation of 1895. The public approved the consolidation by referendum on April 10, 1934, thereby creating the Chicago Park District. Unlike some of the large boards that had been appointed by the Governor for the last 64 years, the new board was to have just 5 commissioners who were to be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council. As the new board noted in its Annual Report, the citizens of Chicago were faced with the decision about whether to maintain the city’s extraordinary system of parks and boulevards even in the face of extreme economic hardship.338 Their vote was a resounding yes. As the Annual Report of 1935 noted, Chicago was “renowned” for its boulevards so it was important that they be properly maintained and policed. They were not considered secondary to the parks as they might have been in other cities. Indeed, the parks and boulevards together were so widely dispersed throughout the city that the Chicago Park District was “almost a city in itself, woven through the warp and woof of the metropolis.”339 The Chicago Park District regulated 65% of the city’s traffic on its 122 miles of boulevard roads and it was responsible for policing these roadways and 5500 acres of parkland. It also had to maintain 28 miles of lake shore.340 The commitment and dedication of Chicago’s residents to this vast system during these difficult times was extraordinary. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) At the onset of the Depression the situation in Chicago was so severe that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made a special effort to direct relief money to the city in order to create jobs and ease the tensions. The newly consolidated Chicago Park District would be the recipient of significant federal relief money. In 1935 the public approved a $6 million bond to match anticipated federal funds. The anticipated funds were from the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration. As evidenced in the Chicago Park District’s first Annual Report, they were very much needed.341 The Public Works Administration was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 to fund large scale public projects.