Hiawatha Park

8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr. Chicago IL 60634

Hours: Park: 6am - 11pm

Fieldhouse: M-F 8am - 9pm, Sat 9am - 4pm, Su 10am - 4pm

Park Supervisor:
Larry Krawetz

(312) 746-5559

Description

Located within the Dunning community, Hiawatha Park totals 12 acres and features a large gymnasium, fitness center, and club rooms. Outdoors, the park offers tennis courts, baseball fields, football/soccer field and a playground for the young ones. Popular in summertime, the water spray feature offers children a place to play and cool down while having a blast!

Young park-goers can play a variety of seasonal sports including basketball, flag football, floor hockey and volleyball at the facility. In the summer, youth attend our popular day camp.

Teens in the neighborhood should check out the weightlifting program and teen club activities as well as sports club.

Adults participate in a range of activities, including fitness, walking club, yoga. Plus, sign up for leagues such as 16" Softball and basketball. Parents gather at Hiawatha Park with their preschoolers for moms, pops and tots. Play group, preschool, tap and ballet, tiny tot tumbling and bitty basketball are also available for preschool-age residents.

The seniors in the community enjoy getting together for a game of bridge and socializing at the senior citizen club during the week.

The staff at Hiawatha Park invites everyone to come out and play year-round at the park!

3/6/2013
Get Swimsuit Ready for Spring Break with Two Weeks of Free Fitness Classes March 18-30
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SPRING PROGRAMS:

Register online or in-person for spring programs now. Spring programs run the week of April 1 through the week of June 3.

SUMMER PROGRAMS:

Online registration for our park’s summer programs begins Monday, April 15 at 9 am, and in-person registration begins Saturday, April 20. The standard 6-week summer camp program runs July 1 through August 9. Most other summer programs run the week of June 17 through the week of August 19.

FACILITIES

FACILITY TYPE	ADDRESS	DESCRIPTOR	QTY	NOTES
Baseball Field	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.	Baseball, Softball, T-Ball	5
Bocce Court	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		2
Fieldhouse	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1
Fitness Centers	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1	M-F 8am-9pm; Sa 9am-4pm;Su 10am-4pm; ADA Accessible Equipment Sign up for a membership
Football / Soccer - Grass	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1
Gymnasiums	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1
Meeting/Event Space	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		3
Playgrounds	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1
Tennis Courts	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		2
Water Spray Features	8029 W. Forest Preserve Dr.		1

History

Hiawatha Park was one of many parks created through a ten-year program providing additional recreational space for post-World War II Chicago. In 1947, the Chicago Park District selected a 12-acre park site in the Dunning community. Land acquisition moved slowly, however. Improvements began nearly a decade later, and Hiawatha Park opened to the public in 1958. The park district installed a fieldhouse in subsequent years. Hiawatha Park honors an Onandaga Indian chief, who formed the League of Five Nations, the famed Iroquois confederation. Over the centuries, Hiawatha (ca. 1570) became an almost mystical figure for Native Americans, and poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) further mythologized him in "The Song of Hiawatha." The park name was suggested by community residents, who wished to carry on the tradition of naming Chicago parks for Indian tribes, people, and places.