Chicago Park District

The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. 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. The district's headquarters are located in the Time-Life Building in the Streeterville neighborhood.

Jurisdiction

The Chicago Park District oversees more than 600 parks with over of municipal parkland as well as 27 beaches, 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 in New York City. 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. 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 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 - ; 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 and his wife Anna Murray Douglass, 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, 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 - 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 - ; 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 - ; 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 - ; the largest park in southwest Chicago, it has a golf course and many other attractions
* Millennium Park - ; Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the Art Institute of Chicago in Grant Park.
* Washington Park - ; located on the south side, it was the proposed location for the 2016 Summer Olympics 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 Central Park, Baltimore's Druid Hill Park

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