D'Elia Playlot Park (c/o Schreiber Park)
History
In 1972, the Chicago Park District purchased a single vacant lot on Lakewood Avenue to create a playlot for the crowded Edgewater community. The park district soon improved the tiny site with playground equipment and benches, and planted two trees to provide some shade and greenery. In 1991, the park district further improved the property with a new soft surface playground. Two years later, the site was officially named D'Elia Park, in honor of neighborhood resident and volunteer Aileen D'Elia (--1992). D'Elia's life of community involvement ended tragically when she was kidnapped in 1992.
