Nearly nine miles southwest of the new Maggie Daley Park downtown, an even bigger park is opening to less fanfare this weekend.
Built atop a three-foot stone cap on what used to be the contaminated Celotex industrial site in Little Village, the 22-acre park at 2800 S. Sacramento Ave. is set to open Sunday, providing what officials are calling much-needed green space in the densely populated Latino neighborhood.
"This is the largest brownfield conversion in America. It's not just a conversion. It's a conversion to open space, park space and playgrounds," Mayor Emanuel said Thursday while touring the site, which he called the Big Park in Little Village. The proposed name, La Villita, is pending approval from the Chicago Park District.
The mayor's office, hoping the Little Village park doesn't get lost in the shadow of other park projects, such as the Maggie Daley Park, which will see its skating ribbon open Saturday, invited RedEye to walk through the site Thursday.
"I'm proud that Maggie Daley is going to be one of a kind," he said, adding about La Villita. "This [park], in the neighborhood, is going to be one of a kind. So we can constantly make sure that people see everything we're doing as a city investing in our neighborhoods."
"Millennium Park put us on the map," he said. "Now we're putting every neighborhood on the map." One of the key themes in Emanuel'sre-election campaign is that he is helping Chicago's neighborhoods.
Tucked a block behind the busy commercial strip of 26th Street at the north end and sandwiched between single-family homes on the east and west sides, the new $11 million park is within an eyeshot of the Cook County Jail. (When the jail was pointed out to the mayor, he joked, "I don't know what you want me to do with that. That's not mine.")
The Little Village community, which advocated for years to shut down coal plants in the neighborhood, also pushed for more than a decade to get more park space in the area.
"It's been a very long effort to realize the park, so it's really amazing," said Antonio Lopez, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. The lengthy process included the sale of the property to the city and the remediation of the site, he said.
"Community members were really raising their voices and coming together and pushing for the transformation of this place," Lopez said.
Chicago Park District CEO Michael Kelly said the community has weighed in on every inch of the park.
"This is a game changer for this community-for South Lawndale, Pilsen, Little Village," Kelly said. Not only will it serve 5,800 families with kids age 6 and younger in the neighborhood, he said, but it's also the biggest new park to open in the city in 2014.
Lopez said he expects the park's impact to be "incredible" because it will offer an oasis from the stress of living in a densely populated, low-income neighborhood where residents are fearful of violence and deportation.
The park looks like a sports complex with its two artificial turf soccer fields, two basketball courts, a skate park and two soon-to-be built baseball fields. It also features a children's playground with a mini rock-climbing wall, rope jungle and alligator water slide. Lopez said the community is eager to work with the park district and local officials to add a field house to the park for year-round programming.
Karen Canales, 20, a college student living in Little Village, said the new park will encourage exercise that can help combat the high obesity rates in the community.
"A lot of it comes down to young people in Little Village. We don't have a lot of recreational space," she told RedEye during a phone conversation. "I feel like Little Village is obviously growing a lot and this park is definitely going to help. With this park, I can envision a much healthier Little Village for us, for everybody here."
Until this park was built, some residents played in the streets, at school yards or at Piotrowski Park on the community's west side, Lopez said. Now, residents will be able to access a clean space converted from an industrial site.
"That's environmental justice," Lopez said.
Built atop a three-foot stone cap on what used to be the contaminated Celotex industrial site in Little Village, the 22-acre park at 2800 S. Sacramento Ave. is set to open Sunday, providing what officials are calling much-needed green space in the densely populated Latino neighborhood.
"This is the largest brownfield conversion in America. It's not just a conversion. It's a conversion to open space, park space and playgrounds," Mayor Emanuel said Thursday while touring the site, which he called the Big Park in Little Village. The proposed name, La Villita, is pending approval from the Chicago Park District.
The mayor's office, hoping the Little Village park doesn't get lost in the shadow of other park projects, such as the Maggie Daley Park, which will see its skating ribbon open Saturday, invited RedEye to walk through the site Thursday.
"I'm proud that Maggie Daley is going to be one of a kind," he said, adding about La Villita. "This [park], in the neighborhood, is going to be one of a kind. So we can constantly make sure that people see everything we're doing as a city investing in our neighborhoods."
"Millennium Park put us on the map," he said. "Now we're putting every neighborhood on the map." One of the key themes in Emanuel'sre-election campaign is that he is helping Chicago's neighborhoods.
Tucked a block behind the busy commercial strip of 26th Street at the north end and sandwiched between single-family homes on the east and west sides, the new $11 million park is within an eyeshot of the Cook County Jail. (When the jail was pointed out to the mayor, he joked, "I don't know what you want me to do with that. That's not mine.")
The Little Village community, which advocated for years to shut down coal plants in the neighborhood, also pushed for more than a decade to get more park space in the area.
"It's been a very long effort to realize the park, so it's really amazing," said Antonio Lopez, executive director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. The lengthy process included the sale of the property to the city and the remediation of the site, he said.
"Community members were really raising their voices and coming together and pushing for the transformation of this place," Lopez said.
Chicago Park District CEO Michael Kelly said the community has weighed in on every inch of the park.
"This is a game changer for this community-for South Lawndale, Pilsen, Little Village," Kelly said. Not only will it serve 5,800 families with kids age 6 and younger in the neighborhood, he said, but it's also the biggest new park to open in the city in 2014.
Lopez said he expects the park's impact to be "incredible" because it will offer an oasis from the stress of living in a densely populated, low-income neighborhood where residents are fearful of violence and deportation.
The park looks like a sports complex with its two artificial turf soccer fields, two basketball courts, a skate park and two soon-to-be built baseball fields. It also features a children's playground with a mini rock-climbing wall, rope jungle and alligator water slide. Lopez said the community is eager to work with the park district and local officials to add a field house to the park for year-round programming.
Karen Canales, 20, a college student living in Little Village, said the new park will encourage exercise that can help combat the high obesity rates in the community.
"A lot of it comes down to young people in Little Village. We don't have a lot of recreational space," she told RedEye during a phone conversation. "I feel like Little Village is obviously growing a lot and this park is definitely going to help. With this park, I can envision a much healthier Little Village for us, for everybody here."
Until this park was built, some residents played in the streets, at school yards or at Piotrowski Park on the community's west side, Lopez said. Now, residents will be able to access a clean space converted from an industrial site.
"That's environmental justice," Lopez said.