Rutherford Sayre Park

Volunteers at Rutherford Sayre Park for Earth Day activities

Community garden at Rutherford Sayre Park.

Girls rule at the outdoor Weightlifting event at Rutherford Sayre Park.

Kids just love the playground at Rutherford Sayre Park!

Location:

6871 W. Belden Ave.
Chicago, IL 60707

Supervisor: Kim Gapinski

Phone Numbers: Main (312) 746-5368

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-6:00 pm
Tuesday	9:00 am-7:30 pm
Wednesday	9:00 am-7:00 pm
Thursday	9:00 am-7:30 pm
Friday	9:00 am-7:00 pm
Saturday	8:00 am-4:00 pm

Description

Rutherford Sayre Park is located in Chicago’s Montclare community (with Oak Park Avenue at the eastern edge of the park—and close to Chicago’s border with Elmwood Park: two blocks south of where Fullerton Avenue changes its name to Grand Avenue).

The park is 13.94 acres in size, and its fieldhouse contains a fitness center, gymnasium, and kitchen. Outside, the park offers two junior baseball fields, a softball field, a combination football-soccer field, two tennis courts, a new ADA soft-surface playground with spray pool, a nature area, plus passive recreation areas.

Rutherford Sayre Park offers a great variety of programming for all ages. Toddlers / preschoolers can enjoy Fun & Games, Moms Pops & Tots Interaction. Recreation includes the fitness center / weight training, baseball, basketball, dodgeball, flag football, floor hockey, golf, seasonal sports, soccer, team tumbling, volleyball, and (Olympic) weight lifting. In the summer, youth can attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.

On the cultural side, Rutherford Sayre Park offers several visual arts programs, including arts & crafts, drawing & (water color) painting, and ceramics. Nature programming involves a community garden. The teen art camp has created several colorful mosaics within the park's grounds.

History

Rutherford Sayre Park was created from three separate parks, lying adjacent to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad tracks on the City's northwest side, had long been treated as one by area residents. All three were set aside as parkland just before World War I and came under the control of the Chicago Park District. The park properties were donated by two local families, the Sayres and Rutherfords, who had farmed and later subdivided the surrounding area. The western portions of the parkland had been part of the Sayre homestead, purchased by William E. Sayre in the early 1830s. Thomas A. Rutherford, the area's first postmaster, donated the eastern section, at the southwest corner of Belden and Oak Park Avenues. In 1916, the Northwest Park District began to improve the area north of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul tracks, erecting a fieldhouse with an assembly hall and a gymnasium. Per a stipulation in the Rutherford deed, the fieldhouse originally included a bowling alley as well, an unusual feature for a Chicago park fieldhouse. In the 1920s, the Chicago Landscape Company designed a spray pool for the park. The park became part of the Chicago Park District’s portfolio when the Northwest Park District and 21 other park districts were consolidated into the Chicago Park District in 1934. The Chicago Park District acquired ownership of additional park land from City of Chicago in 1957 pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act. In mid-1999, the Chicago Park District combined these three of adjacent parks (Rutherford, Sayre, and Rutherford Sayre) to form Rutherford Sayre Park.

Advisory Council

Contact: Byron Watson, President

Phone: (815) 353-0213

Email: coachlifepro@gmail.com

Meeting Details:

1st Wendesday of the month at 7:00pm

Parking/Directions

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

Name	Number	Type	Category	Ages	Dates	Fee
Drop-In at Rutherford Sayre	500441	Instruction	After School	At least 5 but less than 14	From September 3, 2024 to December 12, 2024 Each Tuesday,Thursday from 2:30pm to 5:30pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	$50.00
Girls in the Park Club at Rutherford Sayre	500630	Instruction	Clubs	At least 6 but less than 13	From September 9, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Monday,Friday from 4:45pm to 5:45pm	$10.00
Kiddie College at Rutherford Sayre	500769	Instruction	Recreation	At least 3 years 6 months but less than 6	From September 4, 2024 to December 5, 2024 Each Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday from 10am to 1pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	$100.00
Gym Monkeys at Rutherford Sayre	501223	Instruction	Recreation	At least 3 but less than 6	From September 3, 2024 to December 5, 2024 Each Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday from 1pm to 2pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	$30.00
Parent & Tot Sports at Rutherford Sayre	507092	Instruction	Seasonal Sports	At least 1 years 6 months but less than 4	From September 7, 2024 to November 23, 2024 Each Saturday from 9am to 10am	$20.00
Nature Babies at Rutherford Sayre	507093	Instruction	Education	At least 1 years 6 months but less than 4	From September 7, 2024 to November 23, 2024 Each Saturday from 10:30am to 11:30am	$20.00
Fun with Food at Rutherford Sayre	507095	Instruction	Educational/Self-Help	At least 3 years 5 months but less than 6	From September 7, 2024 to November 23, 2024 Each Saturday from 12pm to 1pm	$20.00
Arts & Crafts at Rutherford Sayre	507098	Instruction	Decorative Arts	At least 6 but less than 15	From September 6, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 4pm to 4:45pm	$20.00
Dodgeball at Rutherford Sayre	507108	Instruction	Dodgeball	At least 9 but less than 14	From September 3, 2024 to December 3, 2024 Each Tuesday from 3:30pm to 4:30pm	$20.00
Science of Superheroes at Rutherford Sayre	507132	Instruction	Educational/Self-Help	At least 3 years 6 months but less than 5 years 6 months	From September 6, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 3pm to 3:45pm	$10.00
Tiny Tot Tumbling at Rutherford Sayre	507134	Instruction	Tumbling	At least 3 but less than 6	From September 7, 2024 to November 23, 2024 Each Saturday from 1:30pm to 2:30pm	$20.00
Team Tumbling at Rutherford Sayre	507136	Instruction	Competitive	At least 5 but less than 15	From September 27, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 3pm to 5pm	Free
Tap & Ballet at Rutherford Sayre	507138	Instruction	Dance	At least 3 but less than 6	From September 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024 Each Wednesday from 5:45pm to 6:30pm	$20.00
Family Arts and Crafts at Rutherford Sayre	507139	Instruction	Decorative Arts	At least 1 years 6 months but less than 5	From September 6, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 5:30pm to 6:30pm	$20.00
Moms, Pops & Tots Interaction at Rutherford Sayre	507141	Instruction	Recreation	At least 1 but less than 4	From September 6, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 11:30am to 12:30pm	$20.00
Music and Movement at Rutherford Sayre	507143	Instruction	Dance	At least 1 but less than 4	From September 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024 Each Wednesday from 11:30am to 12:30pm	$20.00
NERF Soccer at Rutherford Sayre	507145	Instruction	Soccer	At least 3 but less than 6	From September 3, 2024 to December 3, 2024 Each Tuesday from 2pm to 2:45pm	$10.00
Little Artists at Rutherford Sayre	507146	Instruction	Decorative Arts	At least 3 but less than 6	From September 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024 Each Wednesday from 2pm to 2:45pm	$10.00
Sport Art & Dart at Rutherford Sayre	507148	Instruction	Recreation	At least 3 but less than 5 years 6 months	From September 5, 2024 to December 5, 2024 Each Thursday from 2pm to 2:45pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	$10.00
Cross Country at Rutherford Sayre	507153	Instruction	Track & Field	At least 6 but less than 14	From September 3, 2024 to November 5, 2024 Each Tuesday,Thursday from 4:45pm to 5:45pm	$20.00
Recreational Tumbling at Rutherford Sayre	507155	Instruction	Tumbling	At least 5 but less than 9	From September 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024 Each Wednesday from 3:30pm to 4:30pm	$20.00
Recreational Tumbling at Rutherford Sayre	507156	Instruction	Tumbling	At least 9 but less than 15	From September 4, 2024 to December 4, 2024 Each Wednesday from 4:30pm to 5:30pm	$20.00
Basketball - 4 on 4 at Rutherford Sayre	518266	Instruction	Basketball	At least 5 but less than 8	From September 5, 2024 to December 5, 2024 Each Thursday from 3:30pm to 4:30pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	$20.00
Family Club at Rutherford Sayre	500049	Open	Clubs	4 and up	From September 7, 2024 to November 23, 2024 Each Saturday from 2pm to 3:30pm	$10.00
Basketball - Open at Rutherford Sayre	500092	Open	Basketball	At least 13 but less than 16	From September 3, 2024 to December 5, 2024 Each Tuesday,Thursday from 6pm to 7:15pm Except the following dates: Thursday, Nov 28, 2024	Free
Tot Spot at Rutherford Sayre	501762	Open	Recreation	At least 1 but less than 3	From September 6, 2024 to December 6, 2024 Each Friday from 1pm to 2pm	$20.00
Gymnastics Camp at Rutherford Sayre	521960	Camp	Sports	At least 5 years 5 months but less than 15	From December 16, 2024 to December 20, 2024 Each Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday from 5pm to 7pm	$25.00

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