Douglas Park ( Chicago ) - wikipedia Douglas Park ( Chicago ) This article is about the west side Chicago Park. For the south side Chicago Memorial and Tomb for Stephen Douglas, see Stephen A. Douglas Tomb. For other uses, see Douglas Park ( disambiguation ). Douglas Park This Douglas Park Greenhouse was torn down in 1905. Type Municipal Location Chicago, Cook County, Illinois Area 173 acres ( 0.70 km ) Operated by Chicago Park District Open All year Douglas Park is a large Chicago Park District park that serves as a cultural and community center on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is named after the U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Originally named South Park, its 173 acres ( 0.70 km ) are in the North Lawndale community area with an official address of 1401 S. Sacramento Drive. Contents 1 History 1.1 20th - century redevelopment 2 Today 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links History This stone bridge pictured in front of the old Greenhouse is one of the few remnants of Jenney 's original park designs. In 1869, the Illinois state legislature established the West Park Commission, which was responsible for three large parks and interlinking boulevards. Later that year, on November 4, 1869 the commissioners named the southernmost park in honor of Stephen A. Douglas ( 1813 -- 1861 ). Best remembered for his pre-Civil War presidential defeat by Abraham Lincoln despite superb oratorical skills, Douglas was a United States Senator who helped bring the Illinois Central Railroad to Chicago. In 1871, designer William Le Baron Jenney completed plans for the entire West Park System which included Douglas, Garfield, and Humboldt parks. Jenney 's engineering expertise was especially helpful for transforming Douglas Park 's poor natural site into parkland. He had manure from the Union Stock Yards and sand added to the marshy site. This process brought the 173 acres ( 0.70 km ) of land to grade level. In the center of the landscape, Jenney created a picturesque lake, and a small section of the park was formally opened in 1879. Inflated construction costs and post Great Chicago Fire tax collection difficulties resulted in phased projects. The first improvements were made to the park by Oscar DuBuis in the 1880s. Between 1886 and 1888 Douglas Park, like the other West Park System parks, replaced its greenhouse with a conservatory. In 1895, members of several German turners ' clubs petitioned for an outdoor gymnasium, and the following year one of Chicago 's first public facilities was constructed with an outdoor gymnasium ( pictured right ), swimming pool, and natatorium. 20th - century redevelopment This 1916 photo depicts the outdoor gymnasium. By the turn of the century, the West Park Commission was riddled with political graft, and the three parks became dilapidated. As part of a reform effort in 1905, Jens Jensen was appointed as General Superintendent and Chief Landscape Architect for the entire West Park System. Jensen, now recognized as dean of the prairie style of landscape architecture, improved deteriorating sections of the parks and added new features. Among Jensen 's improvements were a semi-circular entryway at Marshall Boulevard, and a formal garden at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Sacramento Drive. By the time Jensen designed the garden, Ogden Avenue, a diagonal roadway with a major streetcar thoroughfare that would later become part of Route 66, had already been constructed. The road divided the park into two separate landscapes, creating a busy intersection at the junction of Ogden and Sacramento Avenues. Jensen 's solution was a long axial garden on the southeast side of the intersection, providing a buffer between Ogden Avenue and playing fields to the south. Jensen demolished the conservatories in each of the West Park System parks in favor of one grand conservatory at Garfield Park. At the entrance to the garden, the area closest to the busy roadway intersection, Jensen placed a monumental garden shelter, known as Flower Hall, and a formal reflecting pool. The designer of the structure is unknown, however, it was possibly Jensen himself, or his friend, prairie school architect Hugh Garden. East of the building, the garden becomes more naturalistic. Jensen included perennial beds, a lily pool, and unique prairie - style benches. In 1928, the West Park Commission constructed a fieldhouse in Douglas Park. The structure was designed by architects Michaelsen and Rognstad, who were also responsible for other notable buildings including the Garfield Park Gold Dome Building, the Humboldt and LaFolette Park Fieldhouses, and the On Leong Merchants Association Building in Chinatown. In 1934, Douglas Park became part of the Chicago Park District, when the city 's 22 independent park commissions merged into a single citywide agency. Today The park has served as a central location for recreation since it was first built. It currently houses a miniature golf course, five playgrounds, an outdoor swimming pool, soccer fields, basketball courts, and an oval running track. The park also retains its original lagoon, a wide variety of trees, and the original Jenney designed stone bridge. The greenhouse that attracted visitors from throughout the city was torn down in 1905. The statue of Czech patriot, Karel Havlíček Borovský, by Joseph Strachovsky was moved to Solidarity Drive on today 's Museum Campus in the vicinity of the Adler Planetarium in 1981. Chicago 's 2016 Olympic bid included plans to host the Olympic cycling competitions in this park, including a velodrome and a BMX course. Beginning in 2015, the park is the new home of the Riot Fest. See also Parks of Chicago List of landmarks in Chicago Notes ^ Jump up to : Graf, John, Chicago 's Parks Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 11., ISBN 0 - 7385 - 0716 - 4. Jump up ^ Despite several sources that indicate otherwise and despite the fact that Sacramento Avenue runs at 3000 West from 7558 North to 11258 South it has two sections where it has an alternate official name. It is Sacramento Boulevard from 934 north to 1156 South and it is Sacramento Drive in Douglas Park according to Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee, Streetwise Chicago, `` Sacramento Avenue / Sacramento Boulevard / Sacramento Drive '', p. 113, Loyola University Press, 1988, ISBN 0 - 8294 - 0597 - 6 ^ Jump up to : `` Douglas Park Cultural & Community Center ''. Chicago Park District. 2006. Archived from the original on April 5, 2007. Retrieved May 1, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Hueber, Jeff, `` Chicago Parks Rediscovered '', p. 57, Jannes Art Press, Inc., ISBN 0 - 912223 - 02 - 2. Jump up ^ Bachrach, Julia Sniderman ( 2005 ). `` Park Districts ''. The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved April 28, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Bachrach, Julia Sniderman ( 2005 ). `` Conservatories ''. The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved April 28, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Graf, John, Chicago 's Parks Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 13., ISBN 0 - 7385 - 0716 - 4. Jump up ^ Graf, John, Chicago 's Parks Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 12., ISBN 0 - 7385 - 0716 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Graf, John, Chicago 's Parks Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 14., ISBN 0 - 7385 - 0716 - 4. Jump up ^ Hinz, Greg ( April 14, 2007 ). `` USOC picks Chicago for 2016 Olympic bid ''. Crain Chicago Business. Crain Communications, Inc. Retrieved May 1, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Riot Fest Announces Move to Douglas Park for 2015 : This year 's Riot Fest is scheduled for Sept. 11 - 13 ''. NBC Chicago. May 20, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015. External links Chicago Park District Page Douglas Park Advisory Council Coordinates : 41 ° 52 ′ N 87 ° 42 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.86 ° N 87.70 ° W ﻿ / 41.86 ; - 87.70 Parks in Chicago Abbott Park Ada Park Adams Park Jane Addams Park Almond Park Altgeld Park Amundsen Park Arcade Park Archer Park Armour Square Park Armstrong Park Arnita Young Boswell Park Arrigo Park Auburn Park Augusta Park Austin Park Avalon Park Avondale Park Bauler Park Bessemer Park Bell Park Berger Park Blackhawk Park Boyce Park Bosley Park Burnham Park Calumet Park Chopin Park Columbus Park Donovan Park Douglas Park DuSable Park Dunbar Park Dvorak Park Eckhart Park Ellis Park Fernwood Park Foster Park Fuller Park Gage Park Garfield Park Gompers Park Grant Park Hamilton Park Harrison Park Hayes Park Holstein Park Hoyne Park Humboldt Park Independence Park Indian Boundary Park Jackson Park Jefferson Park Jesse Owens Park Kelvyn Park Kenwood Community Park Kosciuszko Park Legion Park Lincoln Park Loyola Park Maggie Daley Park Marquette Park McGuane Park McKinley Park Midway Plaisance Millennium Park Mount Greenwood Park Mozart Park Nichols Park Northerly Island Park Ogden Park Olson Park and Waterfall Oscar O. D'Angelo Park Oz Park Palmer Park Peoples Park Ping Tom Memorial Park Piotrowski Park Portage Park Promontory Point Pulaski Park Revere Park River Park Rogers Park Rowan Park Riis Park Russell Square Park Shedd Park Sherman Park Skinner Park Smith Park South Shore Nature Reserve Stanton - Schiller Park Strohacker Park Union Park Vittum Park Warren Park Dinah Washington Park Harold Washington Park Washington Park Washington Square Park Welles Park Wicker Park Wildwood Park Wilson Park Winnemac Park See also : Beaches in Chicago Chicago articles By topic Architecture Beaches Climate Colleges and universities Community areas Crime Culture Demographics Economy companies Expressways Flag Geography Government Harbor History Politics Timeline Landmarks Literature Media Museums Neighborhoods Parks People Performing arts music theater Public schools list Skyscrapers Sports Tourism Transportation Visual arts Portal Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Douglas_Park_(Chicago)&oldid=845866509 '' Categories : Parks in Chicago West Side, Chicago Urban public parks 1869 establishments in Illinois Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Use mdy dates from August 2016 Coordinates on Wikidata Good articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Cebuano Edit links This page was last edited on 14 June 2018, at 17 : 47 ( UTC ). 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Question: who is douglas park in chicago named after
Answer: Stephen A. Douglas