Events
Aug
12
Sep
16
Sep
17
Hours
Park Hours
Description
Located in the Clearing community area, Hale Park totals 16.88 acres and features a gymnasium,multi-purpose rooms and a preschool room. Outside, the park offers a swimming pool, baseball fields and a playground. Many of these spaces are available for rental including our gymnasium, fields, and multi-purpose rooms.
Park-goers can participate in seasonal sports, gymnastics, and floor hockey. On the cultural side, Hale Park offers theater. Nature programming includes Garden Buddies and painting. After school programs are offered throughout the school year, and during the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.
In addition to programs, Hale Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the entire family including a pumpkin patch, Spring and Fall theater plays, Park Showcase, Lunch with the Easter Bunny and other holiday-themed events.
History
Lying adjacent to Hale Elementary School, Hale Park is among a number of sites within the city that are operated jointly by the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Board of Education. The park district acquired the property in 1947, as part of a ten-year plan to increase recreational opportunities in under-served neighborhoods in post-World War II Chicago. The Chicago Park District continued to acquire property for the park until 1962. Hale Park is now home to an outdoor swimming pool (ca. 1968) and a modern fieldhouse, designed by the firm of Schroeder, Murchie, Laya, Associates, Ltd., and dedicated in late 1998. In 1953, the park was named for American patriot Nathan Hale (1755-1776). Hung by the British as a spy, Hale may be best known for his famous last words: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
