McKinley Park Existing Conditions Report

The neighborhood’s residents enjoy access to 72.5 acres of open space, the majority of which is McKinley Park. The remaining 3.2 acres of open space are made up of smaller neighborhood parks, including Hoyne Park, Kucinski Murphy Park, and Mulberry Playlot Park. Open space makes up approximately 8 percent of total land use in McKinley Park, compared to 7 percent in the City of Chicago, 13 percent in Cook County, and 12.5 percent within the CMAP region. Residents have access to approximately 2.6 acres of open space per 1,000 people, which meets the regional standards for park accessibility.

Table 9.1. Park Acreage by Type in McKinley Park

Data Source: Chicago Park District Park Locations, 2016.
  

McKinley Park 

Yoga practitioners hold a position at the McKinley Park farmers market as depicted in "Find Punk Rock, Carnival Games and Community This Week in McKinley Park," published June 10, 2019, in the McKinley Park News.As seen in Table 9.1, McKinley Park is the largest of four parks in the community, and is considered one of the greatest neighborhood assets. The park opened in 1902 as recreational grounds for the often noisy and overcrowded neighborhoods near the Union Stockyards. Today, McKinley Park offers various leisure opportunities and is the center of recreational activities in the neighborhood. The park features many sports facilities including two gymnasiums, basketball and tennis courts, soccer and baseball fields, an outdoor pool, a gymnastics center, as well as an ice-skating rink in the winter months. A playground, a lagoon with a fishing area, and a natural area with paths and trails are also located within the park. In addition to recreational opportunities, McKinley Park hosts a variety of events such as after school programs, a youth summer camp, Midnight Circus, the McKinley Park Farmers Market, and Movies in the Park. Because McKinley Park offers ample recreational opportunities, the park attracts visitors from outside of the neighborhood.

McKinley Park Advisory Council

The McKinley Park Advisory Council plays an important role in developing the park’s recreational opportunities and events. The park advisory council is a voluntary group that meets once a month to promote ways that the community can better utilize the park’s facilities and programs. The group communicates with the Chicago Park District on matters related to the park, increases community awareness of Chicago Park District projects, and secures funding to enhance park facilities. A notable initiative of the advisory council is the development of a dog park in collaboration with the Chicago Park District. The group is raising funds to cover the cost of the project, which once completed, will be the first dog park on Chicago’s South side. Recently, the park advisory council and MPDC successfully won a $5,000 award from the Chicago Community Trust to fund park and community programs. This notable initiative stems from a desire to enhance communication and a sense of community within the neighborhood, through beautifying the park’s old bathhouse with a community mural and providing Spanish and Chinese translation services at key community meetings. 

Hoyne Park

Another frequently used neighborhood park is Hoyne Park, located near the intersection of 35th Street and Archer Avenue. The park features a playground and a variety of sports facilities; however, several residents have identified maintenance of the park as an issue. The Omega Delta Baseball and Softball League heavily uses the park’s sports facilities during baseball season, but the park is currently staffed by seasonal workers and does not have a full time park supervisor. The league is a non-profit organization, staffed by all-volunteer coaches and administrators, dedicated to the enrichment of the neighborhood’s youth through recreational activities. Volunteers from the league are working with the resident-led Hoyne Park Advisory Council to address the park’s maintenance issues.

Figure 9.4 Hoyne Park sports facilities and playground

Source: chicagoparkdistrict.com

Kucinski-Murphy Park and Mulberry Playlot Park

Although smaller in size, Kucinski-Murphy Park and Mulberry Playlot Park also provide the neighborhood’s residents with access to open space. These parks do not have any structured programming, but have playgrounds and water features that are utilized by the McKinley Park community. The boulevard along Western Avenue could also become part of the neighborhood’s open space network, with some improvements. Many community members expressed a desire to beautify the boulevard and identified it as an opportunity for bike lanes and other bicycle infrastructure improvements.

Figure 9.5 Mulberry Playlot Park

Source: Chicago Park District