Berger Park & Cultural Center
Park Description
As an early proponent of developing street-end beaches on Chicago's north side, Berger Park Cultural Centerhas now become a neighborhood icon. Great for fun learning and excitement, events such as Concerts in the Parks and the Annual Jewelry and Ceramics Show have contributed to the cultural façade of the Chicago’s north shore area. Boasting programs that include Writer’s Workshop, Needlepoint and Pottery, theCultural Centeris currently home to the most popular ceramics program within the Chicago Park District.
In July 2005, General Superintendent Timothy J. Mitchell of the Chicago Park District joined Alderman Joe Moore, 49th Ward, and community members to dedicate the new state-of-the-art playground.
The new $319,533.42 playground replaces a smaller, older playground, has soft surfacing and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to be accessible to children with disabilities. Construction on the playground, which was funded through the Chicago Park District’s capital budget, began in spring 2005 and was complete in July.
The 8,000-square-foot playground has an ADA-accessible drinking fountain and ADA-accessible equipment. In addition, the new playground features a play area shaped like a pirate ship, new drainage, soft surface tiles and rubber surfacing, new walkways, new concrete curbing, trash cans, benches including a mosaic art bench and new landscaping.
History
Berger Park honors Albert E. Berger (1900-1950), a native Chicagoan and Edgewater resident. Berger, who lived with his family in one of the large homes that lined the Sheridan Road before 1950, was a tax consultant and real estate developer, and a member of numerous philanthropic and civic groups. He was also an early proponent of developing street end beaches on Chicago's north side. Such beaches met the summertime recreational needs of Edgewater residents who lived beyond easy reach of the Lincoln Park beaches. By 1937, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation was operating 27 street-end beaches, including one at the end of Edgewater's Granville Avenue, near Berger's home. The city transferred Granville Beach and Park to the Chicago Park District in 1959. By this time, many of Edgewater's fashionable Sheridan Road homes had given way to modern highrises. In an attempt to address the recreational needs of the many apartment dwellers, the city in 1976 constructed a playground along the northern right-of-way of Granville Avenue, leasing it to the park district. Residents of crowded Edgewater needed still more parkland, however, and the park district purchased three additional lakeshore acres from the Viatorian Fathers in 1981. The property included two of the few remaining Sheridan Road mansions, the south one designed by William Carbys Zimmerman and the north one by Myron H. Church. In 1988, the park district rehabilitated the homes, which are now used as a recreational building and a cultural center, respectively. The north mansion's original coach house is now the location of a neighborhood cafe. The south coach house also still stands. Berger Park now offers many activities, including senior aerobics; computer, jewelry making, and writing classes; and theater and music programs for children and adults.
