Events
Aug
16
Hours
Park Hours
Description
Located in the Armour Square Community Area, Armour Square Park totals 8.98 acres. Many Chicagoans know Armour Square as the park across the street from the Chicago White Sox stadium. The fieldhouse features a fitness center, two gymnasiums and an auditorium, along with meeting rooms.
Outside, the park offers junior and senior baseball fields, an athletic field for football and soccer, tennis courts, a playground and an outdoor pool. The playground was renovated in Fall 2013 as part of the Chicago Plays! playground initiative. Many of these spaces are available for rental.
Park-goers come to Armour Square for baseball or volleyball or to exercise in the fitness center. 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, Armour Square Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the whole family, such as egg hunts, holiday parties and Movies in the Park.
History
The South Park Commissioners acquired the land for this park in 1904. Development of the park included a fieldhouse, with four clubrooms, two gymnasiums, an assembly hall, and large lobby. Outdoor amenities such as lawns, walks, and plantings were installed and recreational facilities included an outdoor swimming pool, baseball and football fields, handball and tennis courts, and a children’s playground. The development was completed in 1905 and there was a dedication of the park that same year. In 1906, the year after Armour Square opened to the public, President Theodore Roosevelt described the square and nine other related properties as "the most notable civic achievement in any American city." The South Park Commission created the ten new innovative parks to improve the difficult living conditions in Chicago's congested tenement districts. Nationally renowned landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers and architects Daniel H. Burnham and Co. designed the entire system. The South Park Commission was one of 22 independent park commissions consolidated into the Chicago Park District in 1934.
The first ten included five squares smaller than ten acres in size, and five parks larger than ten acres. In addition to Armour Square, these were Mark White, Russell, Davis and Cornell Squares, and Ogden, Sherman, Palmer, Bessemer and Hamilton Parks. These properties soon influenced the development of other parks throughout the nation.
An ordinance was passed on August 17, 1904 to name the park Armour Square to honor Philip D. Armour (1832-1901), Chicago's "captain of industry." Owner and operator of the largest meatpacking company in the world, Armour donated a large amount of his fortune to charitable and educational institutions. These included a settlement house, the Armour Mission, and a school known as the Armour Institute of Technology, later renamed the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Advisory Council
Map & Facilities
Armour Square Baseball Field
Armour Square Fieldhouse
Armour Square Fitness Center
Armour Square Football/Soccer Field
Armour Square Picnic Grove
Armour Square Park - More Than Dawgs | Concession
3309 S Shields Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
United States
:
(312) 771-1967
Armour Square Pool
Armour Square Paths and Trails
Armour Square Playground
Armour Square Water Spray Feature
Armour Square Tennis Court
