Washington Park, Chicago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Washington Park refers to a neighborhood and a park on the South Side of Chicago, USA.
Washington Park is a 380 acre (1.5 km²) park between Cottage Grove Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, (formerly known as "South Park"). Laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1870s, interesting sights are the DuSable Museum of African American History and its sculpture garden, the Lorado Taft sculpture Fountain of Time, and an architecturally distinctive National Guard regiment. It once contained the Washington Park Race Track, and hosted some of the leading horse races in the U.S. during the nineteenth century.1 The track was closed in 1903. Washington Park is a social center of the South Side and hosts many festivals in the summer, including Chicago's best organized cricket league. In Native Son, Bigger Thomas drives the drunken Jan Erlone and Mary Dalton around Washington Park, as the two embrace.
Washington Park is part of Chicago's boulevard system. From Washington Park, one can take the Midway east to Jackson Park, Garfield Boulevard west to Midway Airport, or Drexel Boulevard north to the central city.
Community Area 40 - Washington Park Location within the city of Chicago |
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| Latitude Longitude |
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| Neighborhoods |
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| ZIP Code | parts of 60609, 60615, 60621, 60637 | |
| Area | 3.83 km² (1.48 mi²) | |
| Population (2000) Density |
14,146 (down 27.18% from 1990) 3,690.4 /km² |
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| Demographics | White Black Hispanic Asian Other |
0.52% 97.5% 0.95% 0.04% 0.95% |
| Median income | $15,160 | |
| Source: U.S. Census, Record Information Services | ||
The neighborhood of Washington Park is west of the park itself, stretching east-west from Cottage Grove to Wentworth Avenue, and north-south from 63rd Street to 51st. Half of the neighborhood's lots are vacant, reflecting the fact that Washington Park is one of the poorest in Chicago, with a median household income of only $15,000 a year, although there has recently been a surge in gut rehab and new construction condominiums, signaling the fact that the neighghborhood is amidst change. The area rapidly changed from white to African-American in the 1920s.
The Studs Lonigan trilogy is set here.
[edit] Today
In September 2006 it was announced that an Olympic Stadium is being proposed for Washington Park as part of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics. The stadium would seat 95,000 initially for the games & then be which would be converted to a 10,000-seat below-ground arena for track-and-field and cultural events after the Olympics.
The cost is estimated to be at least $300 million (USD).
[edit] External links
| City of Chicago |  |
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| Geography • Climate • Government • History • Places and Landmarks • Colleges and Universities • Public Schools • Sports • Community Areas • Neighborhoods • Economy • Parks • Metropolitan Area |
The city of Chicago is a frontrunner to bid for the 2016 summer Olympics. Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley has proposed to build a dome with 95,000 seating capacity at Washington Park. The International Olympics Committee requires cities have a dome with at least 80,000 seating capacity in order to be considered as summer Olympics' hosts. The proposal was submitted on September 21st, 2006.
