The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest

park district A park district is a form of local special-purpose district for providing public parks and recreation in or near its geographic boundaries. Some park districts also own or maintain related cultural facilities such as monuments, zoos, sports venu ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatories, a zoo, and 11 museums. The Chicago Park District also has more than over 230 field houses, 78 public pools, and dozens of sports and recreational facilities, with year-round programming. The district is an independent taxing authority as defined by Illinois State Statute and is considered a separate (or "sister") agency of the City of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The district's headquarters are located in the

Time-Life Building 1271 Avenue of the Americas is a 48-story skyscraper on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), between 50th and 51st Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by architect Wallace Harrison of Harrison, Ab ...

in the Streeterville neighborhood.

Jurisdiction

The Chicago Park District oversees more than 600 parks with over of municipal parkland as well as 27

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, 78 pools, 11 museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons and 10 bird and wildlife gardens that are found within the city limits. A number of these are tourist destinations, most notably Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park which has over 20 million visitors each year, second only to

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. With 10 lakefront harbors located within a number of parks along the lakefront, the Chicago Park District is also the nation's largest municipal harbor system. A number of Chicago Park District parks are located in the vicinity of or even adjacent to a number of

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the third-largest school district in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. ...

. This design was done in order to make it easier for public school students and faculty to incorporate school assignments or physical activities into the learning experience. Additionally, a number of

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...

locations are sited within Chicago Park District facilities. The Chicago Park District is governed by a board of seven (7) non-salaried Commissioners who are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Chicago with the approval of the Chicago City Council.

Notable parks

* Burnham Park - ; runs along the Lakefront for much of the South Side connecting Jackson Park with Grant Park *

Calumet Park Calumet Park is a 198-acre (79-hectare) park in Chicago, Illinois. It provides access to Lake Michigan from the East Side neighborhood on the city's Southeast Side. The park contains approximately 0.9 miles (1.5 km) of lake frontage from ...

- ; shares a border with the State of Indiana, and is also located on the lake. * Columbus Park - ; on the far west side of Chicago, considered one of the 150 Great Places in Illinois * Douglass (Anna and Frederick) Park - and named after

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

and his wife

Anna Murray Douglass Anna Murray Douglass (1813 – August 4, 1882) was an American abolitionist, member of the Underground Railroad, and the first wife of American social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass, from 1838 to her death. Early life Anna Murray w ...

, it is Southwest of downtown. * Garfield Park - ; this west side park contains a grand conservatory and lagoon * Grant Park - ; located near The Loop; Home to

Buckingham Fountain Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago Landmark in the center of Grant Park, between Queen's Landing and Ida B. Wells Drive. Dedicated in 1927 and donated to the city by philanthropist Kate S. Buckingham, it is one of the largest fountains in the ...

, this downtown park is also a favorite site of major festivals including the

Taste of Chicago The Taste of Chicago (also known locally as The Taste) is the world's largest food festival, held for five days in July in Chicago, Illinois in Grant Park. The event is also the largest festival in Chicago. Non-food-related events include live m ...

, Chicago Blues Festival,

Chicago Jazz Festival The Chicago Jazz Festival is an admission-free, four-day annual jazz festival in Chicago's Millennium Park. It is run by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and programmed with the assistance of Jazz Institute of Chicago during ...

Lollapolooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Mus ...

and others. * Humboldt Park - on the west side, was once a cultural center of

Chicago's Puerto Rican Community Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years. History The Pue ...

and the site of a famous rally by pianist and statesman

Ignace Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

that led to Poland regaining its independence after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. * Jackson Park - ; 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 The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

. * Lincoln Park - ; 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 Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. * Marquette Park - ; the largest park in southwest Chicago, it has a golf course and many other attractions *

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center nea ...

- ; Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

in Grant Park. * Washington Park - ; located on the south side, it was the proposed location for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Stadium.

History

In the 1860s, Chicago already had about 40 small parks, but no central plan, and it fell far short when compared to other major cities in the country. Lincoln Park was Chicago's first large park, created in 1860. Dr. John H. Rauch MD, who was a member of the Chicago Board of Health and later a president of the Illinois State Board of Health, played a key role in establishing Lincoln Park by persuading city officials to close several festering cemeteries filled with shallow graves of victims of infectious epidemics. Rauch next formulated a central plan for parks across the entire city, noting that they were "the lungs of the city", and pointing out that Chicago's parks were inferior to those in New York's

, Baltimore's

Druid Hill Park Druid Hill Park is a urban park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. Its boundaries are marked by Druid Park Drive (north), Swann Drive and Reisterstown Road (west and south), and the Jones Falls Expressway / Interstate 83 (east).Fairmount Park. His influence was key in setting up Chicago's modern park system.William K. Beatty (1991) "John H. Rauch - Public Health, Parks, and Politics" ''Proceedings of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago'' Vol. 44 pp. 97-118 The current Chicago Park District was created in 1934 by the

Illinois Legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 18 ...

under the Park Consolidation Act (70 ILCS 1505 et seq). By provisions of that act, the Chicago Park District consolidated and superseded the then-existing 22 separate park districts in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the largest three of which were the Lincoln Park, West Park, and South Park Districts, all of which had been established in 1869. In the late 1960s, the district lent its support for a

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...

for developmental challenged children. The Park District co-sponsored the first Special Olympics at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since ...

in 1968. In the past several years, the Park District has initiated a program of renovating and beautifying existing parks and playgrounds, as well as initiating the building of a number of new parks, including

Ping Tom Memorial Park Ping Tom Memorial Park is a public urban park in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood, in South Side, Chicago. It is part of the Chicago Park District (CPD). Located on the south bank of the Chicago River, the park is divided into three sectio ...

, Ellis Park,

DuSable Park DuSable Park is a former commercial and industrial site, at the mouth of the Chicago River that has been the subject of environmental remediation and is awaiting redevelopment into a park. The project, first announced in 1987 by Mayor Harold Wash ...

Maggie Daley Park Maggie Daley Park is a public park in the Loop community area of Chicago operated by the Chicago Park District. It is near the Lake Michigan shoreline in northeastern Grant Park where Daley Bicentennial Plaza previously stood. Maggie Daley Pa ...

and others. The Chicago Park District has also expanded programming in neighborhood parks throughout the city, and created a lakefront concert venue on

Northerly Island Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula along Chicago's Lake Michigan lakefront. The site of the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island connects to the mainland through a narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive. This street is dominated by Neoclass ...

on the site of the former

Meigs Field Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport (pronounced , formerly ) was a single-runway airport in Chicago that was in operation from December 1948 until March 2003 on Northerly Island, an artificial peninsula on Lake Michigan. The airport sat adjacent to ...

airport. In 2014, the district won the ''National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation''.

Museums in the Park

Park District land hosts 11 museums in locations around the city. They are: *

Adler Planetarium The Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1930 by local businessman Max Adler. Located on the northeastern tip of Northerly Island on Lake Michigan in the city, th ...

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the int ...

DuSable Museum of African American History The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art. It was founded i ...

The Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

John G. Shedd Aquarium Shedd Aquarium (formally the John G. Shedd Aquarium) is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Opened on May 30, 1930, the aquarium was for some time the largest indoor facility in the world. Today it holds about ...

National Museum of Mexican Art The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, is a museum featuring Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois ...

National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (formerly ''Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture'') is a museum in Chicago dedicated to interpreting the arts and culture of the Puerto Rican people and of the Puerto Ricans in Chicago. ...

* Museum of Science and Industry *

Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is a natural history museum located in Chicago, Illinois, and operated by the Chicago Academy of Sciences. The museum traces its history to the founding of the academy in 1857. After a century at a nearby locati ...

In addition, the district's parks host the free admission Lincoln Park zoological park, the Garfield Park Conservatory, and the

Lincoln Park Conservatory The Lincoln Park Conservatory (1.2 ha / 3 acres) is a conservatory and botanical garden in Lincoln Park in Chicago, Illinois. The conservatory is located at 2391 North Stockton Drive just south of Fullerton Avenue, west of Lake Shore Drive, and ...

Government

The Chicago Park District's seven Commissioners govern the district. Under the Chicago Park District code, the Commissioners have a fiduciary duty to act, vote on all matters, and govern the Park District in the best interest of the Park District. The Commissioners appoint the General Superintendent & Chief Executive Officer. On May 11, 2022, Rosa Escareño was appointed to the position.

Lifeguard Service

The Chicago Lifeguard Service, or the Chicago Park District Beaches and Pools Unit, employs over 1000 as aquatics staff during the summer and 300 year round to protect the lives of patrons. Lifeguards are stationed at 23 beaches on Lake Michigan plus one inland beach, as well as, 26 indoor and 51 outdoor pools at city parks and 15 pools in public schools. The Service is the largest municipal lifeguard force in the world and is regularly observed by representatives from Japan, Australia, Ireland, Germany, California, Florida and other locales. The Service also covers more waterfront than any other individual lifeguard force in the world; Chicago beaches cover over 26 miles of the lakefront.

Image gallery

Image:BuckinghamFountain ChicagoIL.jpg, Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park Image:Portage Park Chicago flagstone steps.JPG, Flagstone steps in Portage Park Image:Jackson Park Osaka Garden Chicago.jpg, Osaka Japanese Garden in Jackson Park Image:Lincolnzoo fg01.jpg, Lincoln Park Zoo Image:Lincoln Park Chicago 040124.jpg, Lincoln Park in winter Image:2005-10-13 2880x1920 chicago above millennium park.jpg, Millennium Park Image:Montrose Beach Chicago 060820.jpg, Montrose Beach Image:Oak Street Beach Chicago.jpg, Oak Street Beach

References

External links

Chicago Park District
{{Chicago *• Government of Chicago Park districts in Illinois 1934 establishments in Illinois