Garfield (James) Park

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.