The Golden Dome at Garfield Park
The multipurpose gym at Garfield Park
Violin with Chicago West Community Music Center
Dance class at Garfield Park
Summer Day Campers at Garfield
The new Chicago Plays! playground
Lacrosse at Garfield
The Garfield Park Conservatory
Location:

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624

Supervisor: Wanda Norris
Phone Numbers: Main (312) 746-5092

 

Hours

Park Hours
Weekday Time slot Comment
Sunday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Monday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Tuesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Wednesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Thursday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Friday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Saturday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Fieldhouse Hours
Weekday Time slot Comment
Sunday Closed
Monday 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Saturday 8:30 am-5:00 pm

Description

Located in the East Garfield Park Community, Garfield Park totals 173 acres and features the historic Golden Dome field house. The field house holds a gymnasium, auditorium, dance studio, fitness center, boxing center, grand ballroom and meeting rooms.

Outside, the park offers a swimming pool, baseball fields, athletic fields for football or soccer, a fishing lagoon, tennis courts, floral gardens and playgrounds that were recently renovated as part of Mayor Emanuel’s Chicago Plays! Program. The park also offers an artificial turf where children can play in Owls LaCrosse teams and other park district and community programs. Garfield Park sits adjacent to the Garfield Park Conservatory, a popular destination for special events, educational field trips and flower shows.

Park-goers come to Garfield Park to enjoy baseball, basketball or tennis. On the cultural side, Garfield Park offers dance, music and arts classes with partnership organizations including the Najwa Dance Troupe and the Chicago West Music Center. Afterschool programs are offered throughout the school year, and in the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp. Many of the spaces in Garfield Park are available for rental, including the grand ball room, which is popular for wedding receptions.

In addition to programs, Garfield Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the whole family, including Movies in the Park, Black History festivals, Halloween Haunted Houses, concerts and other Night Out in the Parks events.

History

In 1869, the Illinois state legislature established the West Park Commission, which was responsible for three large parks and interlinking boulevards.  This park was first named Central Park in accordance with a resolution adopted by the West Park Commission in 1869.  The West Park Commissioners acquired property for the park from 1870-1932.  This was the park name until 1881, when the name was changed to “Garfield Park” to honor President James A. Garfield (1831- 1881) after his assassination in 1881.  Plans for Garfield, Humboldt, and Douglas Parks had been completed ten years earlier, by William Le Baron Jenney. 

Jenney is best known today as the “father of the skyscraper.”  His ambitious plans for these three large parks could not be realized all at once, Garfield Park was the earliest developed of these three great original West Side parks, it was developed in stages, beginning with the east lagoon.  The lagoons and a unique suspension bridge designed by Jenney remain today.  Garfield Park remains the best example of Jenney’s landscape efforts in Chicago.  Some notable components of the park were the first Refectory (Casino or Pavilion) Building that was completed and opened to the public in 1884. This was the first building of its kind in a park. In 1893, a Pagoda Building was erected, and the first stone bridge was constructed over the lagoon connection.  In 1906, construction started for replacements for these buildings.  A Lunch Room in the new Refectory Building opened to the public in 1908.  Other recreational facilities were also constructed, roque courts, an eight hole golf course, and a bandstand that still exists today. 

Jens Jensen, a Danish immigrant who began working as a laborer for the West Park System in the 1880’s, and after a decade, worked his way up to the position of Superintendent of Humboldt Park. At that time, the West Park System was entrenched in political graft. In 1900, the commissioners fired Jensen because of his efforts to fight the corruption. Five years later, during major political reforms, new commissioners appointed him General Superintendent and Chief Landscape Architect. Deteriorating and unfinished sections of the parks allowed Jensen to experiment with his evolving Prairie style. For instance, when he took over, each of the three parks had small, poorly maintained conservatories. Rather than repairing these structures, which each displayed similar collections, Jensen decided to replace them with a single centralized facility. Designed in conjunction with an engineering firm, Hitchings and Company, Jensen conceived the Garfield Park Conservatory as a work of landscape gardening under glass. This Conservatory replaced the one that was built in 1887.  Jensen’s Conservatory was considered revolutionary when it opened to the public in 1908, the form of the building emulated a "great Midwestern haystack," while inside the rooms were wonderful compositions of water, rock, and plants.  The first midwinter Flower Show in the City was held in December 1909 at the new Conservatory.

In 1928, the West Park Commission constructed the "Gold Dome Building" in Garfield Park to provide a new administrative headquarters for the West Park Commission. Architects, Michaelsen and Rognstad, designed the structure.  This firm designed other notable park buildings including the Humboldt, Douglas, and LaFolette Park Fieldhouses. With the Park Consolidation Act in 1934, Garfield Park became part of the Chicago Park District, when the City's 22 independent park commissions merged into a single citywide agency. At that time, due to the Park District consolidation the administrative offices were no longer needed and the "Gold Dome" building became Garfield Park's fieldhouse. 

Advisory Council

Contact: Gina Jameson,   President
Meeting Details:

1st Tuesday of the month @ 6pm

Parking/Directions

For directions using public transportation visit www.transitchicago.com.

Map & Facilities

Garfield Park Pool

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:
(312) 742-5092

Garfield Fitness/Dance Studio

100 North Central Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:

Garfield Paths and Trails

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Conservatory Play and Grow Nature Play Space

300 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:

Garfield Playground - E

3430 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Park Community Plaza on Madison Street

4008 W. Madison Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:
(312) 746-5092

Garfield Gymnastics Center

Garfield Park Fieldhouse
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:
(312) 746-5092

Garfield Playground - NE

160 N. Homan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Water Spray Feature - E

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:

Garfield Park Conservatory

300 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

:
(773) 638-1766
,
:
(312) 746-5250

Garfield Water Spray Feature - S

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Adminstration Building Interior Panels | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Tennis Courts

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Football/Soccer Field - Artificial Turf

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Auditorium

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Green Line Mosaics | Artwork

Garfield Baseball Fields

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Lincoln the Rail-Splitter | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Basketball Courts - Outdoor

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Norman Cornwall Memorial

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Boxing Gym

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Palm Tree Reliefs | Artwork

Garfield Fieldhouse

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Pastoral and Idyl | Artwork

Garfield Fishing Area

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Persian Pool | Artwork

Garfield Fitness Center

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Playground Mosaics | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Football/Soccer Field

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Robert Burns Memorial

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Gymnasium

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

World's Fair Bulls with Maidens | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Garfield Park Natural Area

100 N. Central Park
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Zellij Fountain

Garfield Conservatory Play and Grow Nature Play Space

300 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Fitness Center
Garfield Fitness Center

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Lincoln the Rail-splitter
Lincoln the Rail-Splitter | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Gymnastics Center

Garfield Park Fieldhouse
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

  • :
    (312) 746-5092
Show on Map
Skating at Garfield Park Community Plaza
Garfield Park Community Plaza on Madison Street

4008 W. Madison Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

  • :
    (312) 746-5092
Show on Map
default image
Garfield Football/Soccer Field

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Norman Cornwall Memorial
Norman Cornwall Memorial

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Park Conservatory
Garfield Park Conservatory

300 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

  • :
    (773) 638-1766
  • :
    (312) 746-5250
Show on Map
default image
Garfield Water Spray Feature - E

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Gymnasium

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Adminstration Building Interior Panels
Adminstration Building Interior Panels | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Park Natural Area

100 N. Central Park
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Football/Soccer Field - Artificial Turf

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Park Pool
Garfield Park Pool

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

  • :
    (312) 742-5092
Show on Map
Garfield Auditorium

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Paths and Trails

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Playground Mosaics
Garfield Playground Mosaics | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Baseball Fields

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Playground - E
Garfield Playground - E

3430 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Robert Burns Memorial
Robert Burns Memorial

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Basketball Courts - Outdoor

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Playground - NE

160 N. Homan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
World's Fair Bulls with Maidens | Artwork

100 N Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Boxing Gym

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Water Spray Feature - S

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Zellij Fountain
Zellij Fountain Show on Map
Garfield Fieldhouse

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Tennis Courts

100 N. Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
Garfield Fitness/Dance Studio

100 North Central Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map
default image
Garfield Fishing Area

100 N. Central Park Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
United States

Show on Map