Horan Park
History
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.
