Garfield Park (Chicago)
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Garfield Park
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The Garfield Park Fieldhouse
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| Location | 300 N. Central Park Ave. Chicago, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 41°53′11″N 87°43′2″W / 41.88639°N 87.71722°WCoordinates: 41°53′11″N 87°43′2″W / 41.88639°N 87.71722°W |
| Built | 1907 |
| Architect | William LeBaron Jenney, Hitchings and Company |
| Architectural style | Exotic Revival, Colonial Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 93000837 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 31, 1993 |
| Designated CL | November 18, 2009 |
Garfield Park is a 184-acre (0.74 km2) urban park located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. It was designed as a pleasure ground by William LeBaron Jenney and is the oldest of the three great original Chicago West Side parks (Humboldt Park, Garfield, and Douglas Park). It is home to the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest conservatories in the United States.
The first 40 acres (160,000 m2) segment of Garfield Park was formally opened to the public in August 1874. Originally known as Central Park, it was conceived as the centerpiece of the West Park System.
Jenney, now best known as the father of skyscrapers, was influenced by the French parks and boulevards he had seen and studied while living in Paris. That influence is reflected in his design of these Westside parks and the connecting boulevards. The park was renamed in 1881 in honor of slain President James A. Garfield.
In 1905, Jens Jensen, now known as the Dean of Prairie-style landscape architecture, was appointed as the superintendent of the West Park System where he experimented with design ideas and improvements to the deteriorated and unfinished sections of Garfield Park. Some of the most notable areas are the existing lawns which became the setting for development of the Prairie style of landscape architecture. His most notable work in Garfield Park can be seen in the formal flower garden south of Madison Street where he combined Prairie style elements with traditional formal elements and in the Conservatory.
Garfield Park was initially intended to be used for passive recreation such as strolling and picnicking. Jensen's expertise as an engineer led him to design a large lagoon as a means of draining the park site while creating the requisite water features. The lagoon was used for boating in summer and ice skating in winter.
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