Oz Park
Oz Park is a public park in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of North Side, Chicago. It is located at 2021 North Burling Street, at the corner of Lincoln and Webster, just south of the Lincoln, Halsted, and Fullerton intersection.
The park borders Lincoln Park High School and features many statues fashioned after characters in The Wizard of Oz, a book which was authored by Chicago reporter Frank L. Baum. It is open from 6 AM to 11 PM, and pets are allowed.
During the 1950s, the area surrounding what is now called Oz Park was in need of improvement. The City of Chicago gave the Lincoln Park Conservation Association permission to improve the community in the 1960s. In 1974, the Chicago Park District acquired the land and began constructing a park.Lyman Frank Baum, a children's author and the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was a resident of the Lincoln Park area in the 1890s. Remembering its former resident, fans of The Wizard of Oz would gather in the park for an Oz Festival to honor the famous book, movie, and author every year. The park was officially named Oz Park in 1976, The Oz Park Advisory Council raised the money to put sculptures of the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy & Toto by sculptor John Kearney in the Park.
The 13.32-acre (53,900 m2) park has one walking/biking trail, which is 0.61 miles (980 m) long. To go along with the Wizard of Oz theme, the park's garden is named "The Emerald Garden", and the playground is called "Dorothy's Playlot." The Emerald Garden (located at the corner of Webster and Larrabee) features flowers through which guests may walk. The Gardens are maintained by the Oz Park Advisory Council, which is a local group of volunteers. Dorothy's Playlot has swings and other climbing equipment on which children can play. While Dorothy is the main character of The Wizard of Oz, the playground is also named after Dorothy Melamerson, a retired Chicago gym teacher. Melamerson, interested in children's physical well-being, donated enough money in 1994 to create an athletic field with basketball courts, an asphalt volleyball court and tennis courts. In 1996 and 1997, $600,000 of the $900,000 that Melamerson left for park upgrades and to begin youth sports programs went to renovating the Oz Park athletic field. In her honor, the field was named Melamerson Athletic Field. State Representative John Fritchey and Alderman Vi Daley gave the Oz Park Advisory Council funding for improvements to Dorothy's Playlot in 2006. In 2007, Dorothy's Playlot was covered with a rubberized material, and several pieces of play equipment were replaced.
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