Wentworth Gardens Park

3770 S. Wentworth Ave. Chicago IL 60609

Hours: Park: 6am - 11pm, Fieldhouse: 12pm - 8pm

Fieldhouse Hours: Mon, Wed, and Fri 9am- 8pm Tue, and Thur 11:30am- 8pm

Park Supervisor:
Ivan Simmons

(312) 747-6996

Description

Located in the Armour Square Community Area, Wenworth Gardens Park totals .83 acres and features a community center with a gymnasium and meeting rooms. In conjunction with the Chicago Housing authority the park offers a baseball field, basketball courts, a swimming pool and playground..

After school programs are offered throughout the school year, and in the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.

In addition to programs, Wentworth Gardens Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the whole family, such as holiday events.

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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 Tuesday, April 16 at 9 am, and in-person registration begins Monday, April 22. 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	QTY	NOTES
Baseball Field	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	2
Basketball Court - Outdoor	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	1
Fieldhouse	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	1
Gymnasiums	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	1
Meeting/Event Space	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	2
Playgrounds	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	1
Swimming Pools - Outdoor	3770 S. Wentworth Ave.	1	Closed for the season.

History

Around 1900, the Chicago White Sox, then the city's only professional baseball team built a ball field at Pershing Road and Wentworth Avenue in the Armour Square community. By 1913, the property had passed to the Chicago Baseball League's (later the Negro National League's) American Giants, who erected a 9,000-seat grandstand there. By 1946, the ball field was gone, and the Chicago Housing Authority began building the 422-unit Wentworth Gardens public housing development on the site of the former ball field. The complex included a centrally-located community center to provide a gathering place for residents of the Wentworth Gardens Homes. In 1964, the Chicago Park District began offering recreational programming at the community center on behalf of CHA. In 1968, the agencies formalized the relationship, with the park district signing a lease for use of the community building and more than an acre of surrounding property. The following year, the park district constructed a swimming pool behind the community center. In 1991, the park district provided new recreational opportunities to residents by adding volleyball and basketball courts, a soft surface playground, a jogging path, and a picnic area. Wentworth Gardens Park and the surrounding housing development take their names from adjacent Wentworth Avenue. The street honors John Wentworth (1815-1888), one of Chicago's best-known civic leaders. Born to a prominent family, Wentworth's paternal grandfather was a member of the Continental Congress and his maternal grandfather served as a colonel under George Washington. Almost immediately after arriving from the East in 1836, Wentworth became editor of the Chicago Democrat, and quickly involved himself in the fledgling city's politics. In 1857, and again in 1860, Wentworth was elected to a one-year term as mayor. He later became the city's police chief and also served five consecutive terms in Congress. Considered one of Chicago's most flamboyant politicians, Wentworth was known as "Long John" for his six-foot-six, three-hundred-pound physique.