Showcasing Chicago's Parks: Fieldhouses

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
[Music] hi i'm doreen o'donnell the deputy director of planning and development and today we are going to showcase the chicago field house chicago's history as it relates to parks is very interesting the concept of the field house building type was conceived at a time when the physical moral and mental welfare of the people was a growing concern of the day the parks were to be neighborhood centers providing much needed public services the field house a new building type was designed to provide for intellectual and social life not only in summer but during the long winter jay frank foster was the creative force behind the concept of the field house foster is credited with developing the nation's first neighborhood parks his visionary proposition for small parks included a ball field large enough for two games to be played at the same time a running track sand pits swimming pool wading pool and outdoor gymnasium this plan also included provisions for a community center building open day and evening with indoor gymnasiums and assembly halls and club rooms what became known as the field house the idea was to take children from the streets and alleys and give them a better environment and safer place in which to play to encourage working boys and girls and adults to spend their idle hours in a wholesome environment and away from questionable amusements and also to encourage them to give attention to personal hygiene exercise and bathing a site was acquired for an experimental neighborhood park in 1903 near the stockyards which became known as mckinley park many of the features suggested by foster were included to fulfill foster's vision the south park commission engaged frederick law olmsted jr and john charles olmsted for the landscape designs and daniel h burnham and company for the field house designs burnham hired edward bennett for the field house project bennett created neoclassical architectural designs for the field houses these field houses often incorporated some art john w norton was a faculty member of the art institute when he was engaged by the south park commission to paint murals in the field houses of the new neighborhood south parks the murals represented events in american history as an example for the hamilton field house the murals represent the americanization process that was taking place in field houses of immigrant neighborhoods like englewood they were more than just art they were at the time a lesson in american history is there a patriarch with respect to the chicago field house in the park district history i believe there are two many field houses were designed by very well-known talented architects throughout the years edward bennett would be the patriarch architect for the original field houses designed for the south side of chicago clarence hatzfeld is also a noteworthy architect who designed many field houses on the north side for many park districts that were within the city hatsfield employed the prairie and tudor architectural styles in the different field houses clarence hatzfeld designed the independence field house with his business partner of five years arthur howell knox for the next 25 years hatzfeld had his own firm and he designed many more field houses near the end of his career he was actually employed by the chicago park district for a few years how has the use of the field house evolved over the decades in 1934 when the chicago park district was formed there were 85 field houses today there are more than 240 these field houses are located throughout the city and range from ornate historic buildings to modern athletic centers there's independence park [Music] broadway armory park eugene field park humboldt park austin town hall park union park [Music] sherman park hamilton park the south shore cultural center as the needs of the residents have changed so have the programming offerings of the field houses the park district continually adapts to address the changing needs and interest of its patrons adding new programs and repurposing facilities in addition to our programming and field house options the district partners with public agencies and private partners to enhance program options park field houses continue to serve as the hubs for social educational and recreational programming and cultural opportunities [Music] you
Info
Channel: Chicago Park District
Views: 1,211
Rating: 4.9000001 out of 5
Keywords:
Id: mZzmrXLxTHk
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 6min 51sec (411 seconds)
Published: Mon Nov 16 2020
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.