Kilbourn Park
Park Description
Discover the wonderful world of nature! Spark your curiosity and explore the fun & educational offerings at the Chicago Park District’s only park with a teaching organic greenhouse.
Kids can get their hands dirty while enjoying the 3-season Harvest Garden youth program, Garden Buddies program for toddlers, environmental-themed projects and crafts, as well as various family workshops.
This year’s Family Harvest Festival—a free, annual Celebration of the End of the Growing Season—will take place on Saturday, September 8th from 10am-noon. Held in a festive autumn setting, this family-friendly event will include tastes from the organic garden, face-painting, and a craft project.
The annual Organic Plant Sale will be held May 17 & 18, 2008.
The Organic Greenhouse is always looking for volunteers—including parents with their children!
Youth recreational activities at this 12-acre park include: basketball, soccer, softball, and tumbling. Other youth programs include: arts & crafts, painting & drawing, as well as the Park Kids after-school program. Toddler programs include preschool, recreational tumbling, as well as parent-and-tot classes. Adult-oriented programs at the park (seniors welcome!) include aerobics, conditioning, sewing, quilting, watercolor painting, and greenhouse workshops. Most programs charge a nominal fee—and pre-registration is required.
Kilbourn Park & Organic Greenhouse is located in Chicago’s Kilbourn Park neighborhood (on the south side of Addison Street, between Cicero and Milwaukee Avenues), at 3501 N. Kilbourn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641. The greenhouse is open Tuesday through Saturday; their hours of operation vary with the season. The fieldhouse is open 7 days a week, excluding major holidays.
For further information regarding the park or its programs, contact the Kilbourn Park fieldhouse at (773) 685-3351. The telephone number for information about Kilbourn’s Organic Greenhouse and its programs is (773) 685-3359. Or visit the Chicago Park District’s website at www.chicagoparkdistrict.com.
History
Created by the Irving Park District, Kilbourn Park takes its name from adjoining Kilbourn Street, named in honor of a small town located near the Wisconsin Dells. The Irving Park District had formed in 1910 to create and manage parks for its tree-lined, middle-class neighborhood. Fifteen years later, the district acquired the site for Kilbourn Park and improvements began. By the late 1920s, the park's recreational features included athletic fields, a running track, horseshoe and tennis courts, an 18-hole putting green, two playgrounds, a children's wading pool, a sand box, and penned-in rabbits. Kilbourn Park also had a fieldhouse, maintenance building, and greenhouse. A unique feature, the greenhouse was used to display tropical plants and to propagate outdoor plants for use throughout the entire Irving Park District.
Clarence Hatzfeld designed all three of the buildings in Kilbourn Park. Having been trained in the office of Chicago architect Julius Huber, Hatzfeld became known for numerous north- and northwest-side park fieldhouses, commercial buildings, and residences. During the Depression, he worked for the Chicago Park District, which formed in 1934 through the consolidation of the city's 22 independent park agencies. Hatzfeld went on to serve as Recreation Technician for the Federal Works Administration in Washington, D.C.
In the late 1930s, the Chicago Park District planted a large perennial garden in Kilbourn Park. Although the original garden was not maintained, a renewed interest in gardening at Kilbourn Park has sparked a volunteer program in the greenhouse and a new perennial garden outside. Additionally, the park district has been able to provide increased recreational programming since the Kilbourn Park fieldhouse underwent a major expansion in 1991.
