Indian Boundary Park

2500 W. Lunt Ave., Chicago IL 60645

Hours: Park: 6am-11pm

Fieldhouse: Closed

Park Supervisor:
Phil Martini

(773) 764-0338

Description

Due to a fire in the building, Indian Boundary Park will be closed until further notice. Park staff will be contacting patrons registered for classes. In the meantime, if you have any questions please call the north region office at 773.262.8658.

Tucked away in the West Ridge community sits a community treasure—Indian Boundary Park and Cultural Center. Beyond the quaint Tudor-style field house, visitors can discover a beautifully restored, duck-filled lagoon, a small public zoo area with goats, sheep, chickens and ducks, a children’s spray pool, sandbox, and four tennis courts. There is plenty of open space for peaceful picnics; groups of 20 or more must have a park permit. Permits are available at the field house.

As a designated cultural center, Indian Boundary thrives with various painting, piano, danceand voice lessons for both children and adults. Some classes take place on the park’s back porch, so that artists can use the park’s scenery as inspiration. Indian Boundary is a residency site in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago’s program, offering free, family-oriented and interactive concert performances for the community throughout the year.

Community residents enjoy the numerous special events produced by the park staff such as; Do-It-Yourself Nutcracker; Valentine's Daddy/Daughter - Mother/Son Disco Party; and Community Halloween Bash to name a few.

The Indian Boundary fieldhouse, designed by Clarence Hatzfeld, features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park’s name, taken from a territorial boundary established between the Pottawattomie Indians and United States Government. Inside is a beautiful auditorium with stage, used for programs, theatre productions, concerts, community meetings and private rentals.

1/30/2012
Chicago Park District and Civic Orchestra of Chicago Present In the Park with Civic, Free Concerts in Select Field Houses
The Chicago Park District and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago announce the 2012 lineup for In the Park with Civic, an admission-free concert series of interactive... Read more

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Spring programs begin the week of April 2 and run through the week of June 1. In-person registration at the park continues until all spots are full.

Summer program registration begins Monday, April 9 at 9am online, and Saturday, April 14 at the park. An account must be created before registering either online or in-person through the new system. Create your account now. Our traditional 6-week day camp runs Monday, June 25 through Friday, August 3. Most other summer programs run the week of June 18 through the week of August 26.

FACILITIES

FACILITY TYPE	ADDRESS	DESCRIPTOR	QTY	NOTES
Community Gardens	2500 W. Lunt Ave.	Ornamental	1	Community Garden
Cultural Centers	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1
Lagoons and Ponds	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1	Indian Boundary Park Lagoon
Meeting/Event Space	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1	small concert stage
Picnic Groves	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		5
Playgrounds	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1
Tennis Courts	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		4	newly resurfaced and enclosed
Volleyball Courts- Outdoor	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1	sand court
Water Spray Features	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1
Zoos	2500 W. Lunt Ave.		1

History

Indian Boundary Park takes its name from a territorial boundary established by the Treaty of 1816 between the Pottawattomie Indians and the U.S. government. The boundary line, which ran through the land that is now the park, remained in effect only through 1833, when the Pottawattomies were forced entirely from the area in the face of white settlement.

Indian Boundary Park was the second and largest of the four parks created by the Ridge Avenue Park District. The others were Morse (now Matanky), Chippewa, and Pottawattomie. The Ridge Avenue district was the first of 19 neighborhood park commissions established after 1896 to serve areas recently annexed to the city. Chicago's three original park districts had authority only to create parks within the 1869 city limits.

The Ridge Avenue Park District began acquiring land for Indian Boundary Park in 1915. Richard F. Gloede, a designer of North Shore estate landscapes, developed an early plan for the park. In the mid-1920s, the Ridge Avenue Park District opened a small zoo, one of only two zoos in Chicago and initially housing only a lone black bear. The 1929 Tudor-Revival fieldhouse designed by architect Clarence Hatzfeld features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park's name. Indian Boundary Park is unusual in that its eastern lawn flows seamlessly into the front yards of neighboring apartment buildings. This park feature was so well-received that in the 1960s the Chicago Park District closed off part of adjacent Estes Avenue as well.

In 2005 Indian Boundary Fieldhouse was designated a Historical Landmark by the City of Chicago and is also listed in the National Register of Historical Places.