Trebes (Robert) Park

In the early 1940s, the City of Chicago purchased land in the near north side Lincoln Park neighborhood for creation of a 44th Ward Recreation Center. The city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation transformed a two-story brick rowhouse into a community center, naming it the Robert Trebes Recreation Center on March 18, 1943. Within a few years, the bureau had constructed a spray pool, a sand box, and two playing fields on adjacent property to the south. In the late 1950s, the Trebes Recreation Center was demolished, along with the other structures on the block. In 1958, the Board of Education began constructing the new Oscar Mayer Elementary School on the northern half of the block. The Trebes Park property also passed into the hands of the Board of Education; however the Chicago Park District began maintaining the park the following year. The Park District and the Board of Education soon began joint operations at the school and park, an arrangement that continues today. In 1991, the Board of Education transferred full ownership of Trebes Park to the Park District. The Sheffield Neighborhood Association, in conjunction with the Park District, led the community effort to renovate the park. In the early 1990's, funded projects include tree planting around the perimeter parkways, installing an iron ornamental "prairie style" fence, the ornamental metal park benches, garbage containers, walkway lights and installing the ornamental iron gazebo in the park plaza entrance. At that time, the Park District constructed a soft surface playground. The new playground was funded through a generous bequest of Dorothy Melamerson, a retired local school teacher whose savings have paid for a number of park improvements in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, the Sheffield Neighborhood Association and community neighbors. In addition, the Sheffield Neighborhood Association has raised funds for the numerous improvements to the park. Taking personal pride in their local park volunteers have spent thousand of hours in gardening and other greening initiatives. The Sheffield Neighborhood Association continues to maintain the park and the "award winning gardens" as the pride of the community.