Portage Park (Chicago park)
Portage Park | |
Location | 4100 N. Long Ave., Chicago, Illinois |
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Coordinates | 41°57′18″N 87°45′52″W / 41.95500°N 87.76444°W |
Built | 1913 |
NRHP reference No. | 95000484[1] |
Added to NRHP | 1995 |
Portage Park is a 36-acre (15 ha) park in the
History
Portage Park was not only the site that gave the area its name, it created the neighborhood by bringing together what had been several distinct communities that were populated by a slew of diverse ethnicities. The park came into being in 1913 when area residents formed an independent park board called the Old Portage Park District. The name of the new park district is a reference to the route that ran along what is today Irving Park Road that had once been used by
The original plan for Portage Park was drawn up by American Park Builders Company who were also responsible for the initial construction that took place between 1913 and 1917. The park design included a naturalistic swimming lagoon, which opened to the public in July, 1916. A fieldhouse and gymnasium were added in the 1920s, designed by Clarence Hatzfeld, whose architectural firm of Hatzfeld and Knox would later design many of the
The park in Portage Park originally had a dirt bottom pond that blended into a cement bottom pool. The hill to the east of the pool that exists now, was the dirt that was removed when the pool was first created when the park was first established. The pond portion of the pool extended to the western edge of this 'hill'.[2]
In 1934, the city's 22 independent park commissions were consolidated into the
In 1959, the park district replaced the concrete pool with an Olympic-sized pool in preparation for hosting the
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Portage Park". Chicago Park District. Retrieved April 2, 2016.